The Beauty and the Beast
by Aurora Ciel
Summary: AU If he could learn to love another, and earn her love in return, then the curse would be lifted. If not, he would be doomed to remain a demon for all time. As the years passed, he lost all hope. For who could ever learn to love a Beast? SasuSaku
1. Prologue

**Title: **The Beauty and the Beast  
**Author: **Aurora Ciel  
**Characters/Pairings: **Sasuke/Sakura, Naruto/Hinata, Kakashi minor: Lee, Tsunade.  
**Rating: **M  
**Alternate Summary: **He was a God cursed to be a demon for his cold heart, she was the beautiful sacrifice he'd taken prisoner. Over time they were no longer the prisoner and the monster, the beauty and the beast, but two halves to the same whole.  
**Warnings: **Language, violence in some chapters, sexual content in later chapters.  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto, nor the musical and/or Disney movie Beauty and the Beast.  
**Note 1: **This story is very AU. There are still ninja but only males are allowed, females with good chakra control may go into medicine if they choose to. Demons and Gods are common in this universe and, while they are treated with utmost respect—and fear, they would not be regarded as something out of the ordinary like they would be today. I guess the best examples I can think of are the movie Spirited Away or the manga/TV show Inuyasha.  
**Note 2: **There isn't exactly a time period to this story. I like to think of it as in the past, but without a certain time frame, if that makes sense. You can choose to decide whenever you want it to take place.  
**Note 3: **Yes, I got the major plot idea for this from the storyline of Beauty and the Beast. I love the musical and the movie and have been toying around with this idea for a long time. While some parts will follow the plot of the story, other areas are completely my own, so don't go into this expecting to know everything that's going to happen. I hope you enjoy it!

* * *

**Prologue**

"Uchiha Sasuke, you will_ not _ignore me!" a shrill voice hissed. A young God with hair darker than a raven and skin the color of ivory made his way out of the front hall of his castle, gracefully moving up the staircase two steps at a time.

"Ino-sama," another voice from below called out to the angry Goddess storming behind him, "You've been chasing after Sasuke-teme for nearly fifty years now—why don't you give it a rest?"

She chose to ignore the half-breed male below her, increasing her speed up the marble stairs. Her waterfall of golden hair swished behind her as she hoisted up the skirts of her kimono higher so she could more easily make the climb behind the gorgeous God ahead of her.

"I mean, it's nothing personal, the teme just isn't very social! He's not looking to settle down yet…" he continued, starting to scamper up the stairs after her.

"Naruto," Ino snapped, pausing in her chase for a moment to toss a glare behind her shoulder, "you will shut your mouth or I will hit you hard it'll make that Kyuubi locked up inside you look like a harmless little chipmunk."

The boy, who was a God with the Kyuubi demon locked inside him, was considered a biracial creature of their spiritual realm. He was shunned by the Gods for the evil inside him and rejected by the demons because of his pure heart and soul, and therefore had few options when it came to companionship. Interestingly enough, he found friendship in Sasuke, the only remaining God in the Uchiha clan, notoriously emotionless and isolated.

"Now," Ino continued, turning her dangerous blue eyes back towards the God she was pursuing, "Sasuke-kun, this is my final offer: are you ready to take me as your mate?"

Sasuke stopped at the head of the staircase, one hand placed on the narrow marble column at the edge of the railing, the other fisted in his pocket. Ino and Naruto froze, neither expecting this response from the anti-social deity.

"Ino," he said quietly. The river Goddess straightened, quickly brushing her slender fingers through her long golden locks and fluttering her eyelashes at him. He turned around, disgust clearly evident on his face, "Tch. You're annoying. Get out."

Naruto barely had enough time to duck before Ino's fist slammed into the wall next to his head. He could sense the angry aura emanating from her body and struggled to fight the urge to hide.

"Kakashi," Sasuke intoned; a silver-haired spirit with a mask covering the side of his face appeared from a doorway on the lower floor. "Show Ino the way out. She is obviously incapable of doing so herself."

Ino's eyes bled red as she gritted her teeth, her hands balling into tight fists. A wind began to blow and her hair lifted to float around her as if she were underwater. "I've tried to be patient with you, Uchiha Sasuke. But I think it's time someone taught you a lesson."

Thunder crashed outside as rain came down in a harsh downpour. Naruto was quick-thinking enough to leap off the staircase before it crumbled to pieces, landing next to Kakashi. They watched quietly, unsure of how to react to the menacing Goddess. Ino was suspended in midair, bobbing slightly as she continued floating, both hands stretched out towards Sasuke, who was standing at the edge of what was left of the staircase. His face kept a bored expression, as if he were merely counting down the minutes before she left.

Sasuke's indifference to her rather melodramatic show only fueled the fire. Ino swished a hand through the air and the floor surrounding Sasuke crashed to the level below it, leaving Sasuke standing on a few floorboards left suspended in the air.

Every candle and torch in the castle went out with another flick of the angry Goddess's wrist, the only light given off by the occasional flash of lightening and the eerie glow Ino's hands were beginning to give off. She snarled, her eyes flicking back up to Sasuke's as she began to speak.

"You seem to be so adverse to any kind of social interaction that I'm going to give you what you want."

Naruto's eyes widened and he glanced over at Kakashi, wondering if they should step in. Kakashi was Sasuke's guardian, and therefore would know what was best for him. But Kakashi kept his gaze on his young master, as if trying to anticipate the next move to come.

"Uchiha Sasuke," Ino repeated, "you are heartless and cold, the characteristics only a true _demon_ can possess, and therefore, a demon you shall become. It is time for your appearance to match your personality. Since you choose your behavior to be cruel, dark and ugly—so shall your appearance."

Sasuke dropped to his knees as he felt a searing pain in his neck, as if the very fire from Hell were resting on his shoulders. His skin felt like it was melting off of his body, his head was ready to explode. He looked down to see claws beginning to sprout from his fingers. His gaze wavered as he looked back up at Ino, seeing a satisfied smirk grow on her face.

"Until you find a woman who will love you for what you _truly_ are," her eyes flashed as if to imply that _this_ was the reflection of his true form, "you will remain this way—in the body of a demon."

He let out an pained groan, the tendons in his neck extending, as he felt two bursts of pain shoot out of his back, right at the shoulder blades. His mind clouded over in a haze as Sasuke felt his body crash to the ground heavily. Darkness seeped into his vision as he struggled to retain consciousness, only able to focus on his harsh panting breaths, the rain crashing on the windows, and the malicious sound of Ino's laughter.

"You wanted so badly to be alone Sasuke? Looks like you got your wish."

-O-0-O-

Sasuke awoke to the sound of Naruto and Kakashi's hushed voices. He opened his eyes and moved to lift his head, grunting at the sudden jolt of pain that shot through his shoulder blades at the movement.

"Sasuke-teme!" Naruto rushed to his friend's side, his clear blue eyes quickly scanning over the Uchiha's face. "You're awake!"

"Naruto," Kakashi said calmly, moving to the other side of Sasuke, "calm down."

"Kakashi," Sasuke turned to his guardian, not able to get past the way the older spirit's lone eye seemed determined to look at anything but him. "What…happened?"

Kakashi's jaw clenched and he moved to help Sasuke up, "I think you need to see for yourself."

As he stood, Sasuke glanced down and his eyes widened. His white haori had been ripped off, revealing dark gray flesh. He flexed his hands, looking at the black talons that were now in place of his fingernails. "Kakashi…" he repeated, noticing for the first time the way his voice had turned into more of a growl.

Naruto lead the way to a washroom, and Sasuke found himself tensing before he turned toward the mirror.

There was no way to even remotely describe the way Sasuke felt when he saw his reflection. He'd never been a vain man, but he had to admit he was _repulsed_ by his new appearance. While his hair had once been black as night, it was now more the color of bluish charcoal as it fell past his shoulders, his skin a brownish-gray. He remembered the pain that had shot out of his shoulder blades and turned to see two claw-like wings now protruding. His eyes had bled into a demonic crimson shade and he realized they looked as though he were permanently using the Sharingan, his clan bloodline trait. Between the two blood rubies that were his eyes were two dark slashes, one going up the other side to side, crossing in the exact middle, creating an odd star-like design.

Finally his eyes landed on a strange mark at the juncture of his left shoulder and he realized Ino had put a cursed seal on him, ensuring there was no way to break the curse without the solution she'd prescribed.

Naruto, seeing Sasuke's gaze on the cursed seal, mused, "Ironic, she turned him into a creature from Hell using the Cursed Seal of Heaven…."

Sasuke couldn't tear his gaze away from the monstrosity that was his appearance, "I…I…."

Kakashi moved to place a comforting hand on the Uchiha's shoulder, but Sasuke lurched away from his companions quickly. They watched as he walked back into the shadows, leaping up to the second floor where the staircase once stood.

"Sasuke, come back!" Naruto called out, following after his friend. He stood amongst the rubble, seeing Sasuke pause for a moment.

"I'm a monster," Sasuke muttered. "I'm never leaving this place again."

"B-But Sasuke, how will you get a girl to fall in love with you if you stay cooped up—"

Sasuke lurched over the railing, his eyes flashing like dark rubies as a disgusting smirk grew on his face, "Do you really think anyone could love me like _this_?"

When Naruto remained silent, he scoffed and slinked back into the shadows. Naruto turned to Kakashi, who was kicking around pieces of smashed marble.

"What do we do Kakashi? If he stays locked up in this castle the curse will never be broken, he'll be stuck like…that."

Kakashi sighed, his one-eyed gaze drifting back to where Sasuke had disappeared to. "I don't know what to tell you, Naruto. Where do you think we could find a woman who would love someone with Sasuke's personality, matched with this new curse? I can't even imagine a woman who will want to _look_ at him now."

Naruto frowned, sitting down on a bigger hunk of marble and rested his face in his hands. "Surely there's got to be _someone_ out there with a big enough heart to love Sasuke…."

* * *

**Notes: **Yes I know its short, but hey it's just a prologue! Please review and I'll try to get the next chapter out soon!!


	2. More Than This Provincial Life

**Title: **The Beauty and the Beast  
**Author: **Aurora Ciel  
**Characters/Pairings: **Sasuke/Sakura, Naruto/Hinata, Kakashi (minor: Lee, Tsunade)  
**Rating: **M  
**Alternate Summary: **He was a God cursed to be a demon for his cold heart, she was the beautiful sacrifice he'd taken prisoner. Over time they were no longer the prisoner and the monster, the beauty and the beast, but two halves to the same whole.  
**Warnings: **Language, violence in some chapters, sexual content in later chapters  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto, nor the musical and/or Disney movie Beauty and the Beast.  
**Notes: **It has been brought to my attention that I failed to mention a key part of the story in the prologue, so I will explain it now! Now that I think about it, the best movie to compare this story to would be Howl's Moving Castle. Sasuke's castle is on earth, but it's more like a portal to the spiritual world. So the Gods and demons live in the spiritual world, but they have "portals" to earth in order to receive sacrifices and gifts, etc. His castle is in the spiritual world, but almost like an image of it is on earth too, to serve as his permanent portal to earth. Once a person steps through the front door, they are instantly in the other world. Hopefully everyone understands that now.

* * *

**Chapter One:  
"More Than This Provincial Life"**

[_One Hundred Years Later_]

Haruno Sakura blew her bangs out of her face for the umpteenth time as she scanned her clipboard once before knocking on the door of her last patient of the day.

"Haruno-san!" a voice shouted from the bed in the corner. "You came to visit me!"

Sakura fought the urge to roll her eyes, "Lee-san, I'm your doctor; I'm only here to make sure you're healing properly."

Rock Lee chose to ignore her statement, instead sitting up straighter as the pink-haired medic made her way towards his tilted bed. Sakura pretended not to notice how his thick eyebrows raised as his eyes followed her every movement, instead focusing on checking his vitals and the IV attached to his arm.

"How does your head feel?" she asked quietly, "Any headaches or dizziness?"

"No trouble at all!" Lee chirped, licking his lips as Sakura lowered her face towards his. She held a small flashlight up to his eyes, instructing him to follow the light with his gaze. After, she leaned back, placing her heads on either side of his bowl cut and tentatively probing his brain with her chakra, searching for any new signs of damage.

"Everything looks fine in there." She applied pressure to the back of his neck and he leaned forward so she could part the back of his hair and examine the scar from where a kunai had pierced. There was a thin, raised white line that marked the exact location the blade had been.

_Good thing his hair is so long, _Sakura thought to herself, _that scar will always be hidden, at least._

She watched as Lee leaned back after she pulled away; he roughly combed his fingers through his round hairdo. Her eyebrows furrowed on their own accord and she couldn't help but think that no matter what attempts he made, there would be no way to tame that hair of his.

Shaking her head, Sakura wrote a few notes down before heading for the door. "I'd say you're good to go, Lee-san. I'll send a nurse in to remove your IV and get you discharged."

Lee nodded, "Thank you for your help, Haruno-san. You are as intelligent as you are beautiful."

"Stay safe now," Sakura said, trying to hold back a smile at her patient's forwardness.

As she approached the nurses' station, Sakura rolled her eyes at the feeling she was being watched. She looked up to see a cluster of nurses grinning at her. One of them winked when she realized which room the medic had just come from.

"That boy has been rambling on about you for nearly two weeks now," one of the older nurses teased, sending the younger nurses into a giggle fit.

"I don't see why you don't just let him take you on a date, Sakura-sama."

"Oh please, you girls crave your gossip, don't you?" Sakura groaned, pulling her hair out of its clip, only to rewind her hair into a twist and pin it up again. "Can one of you discharge him and get him out of my hair please?"

The younger nurses giggled behind her as she walked down the hall, whispering to each other behind their hands about the brave ninja who was pursuing the beautiful new medic, while the older ones shook their heads as they remembered their days of youth.

"That Rock Lee is a ninja! I can't believe Sakura-sama isn't interested in him!" a younger nurse whispered; she was loud enough, however, for Sakura to hear.

An older nurse swatted the girl with one of the files in her hand, "tsk"ing loudly. Another sat back in her chair, "Sakura-sama is a quiet girl; very kind and hard working, of course, but she seems to prefer to keep to herself."

Another young nurse leaned over the counter to watch the pink-haired medic walk down the hall, "I don't get it, she's hand-selected by the Godaime to work in the hospital and she has tons of guys—both ninja and citizens alike—practically _begging_ her to go out with them, and what does she choose to do on her Friday nights? Go home and read a book."

"That girl is just plain weird."

Choosing to ignore the gossiping women behind her, Sakura let out a deep sigh, relieved the day was over. Despite her sore feet, she hurried her pace, eager to get back to her apartment and relax with a warm cup of tea and a good book.

O-0-O

"Finally," Sakura murmured to herself as she pushed past the heavy glass doors of the Konoha General Hospital. She inhaled a deep breath of fresh air, welcoming the scent of fresh pine trees to replace the sterile bleach smell of the hospital.

A gust of wind blew and she shivered, clutching her coat tighter around her body and tucking her nose into her warm wool scarf. Sakura frowned, it was mid-February and Konoha's harsh winter still had yet to let up. Back at her old village, the snow would have already begun to melt, spring would have been just around the corner. Tsunade told her that in Konoha, spring wouldn't come until closer to the end of March, the same time as Sakura's twentieth birthday.

Thinking about her old village caused Sakura to frown. Whenever she thought about her hometown, a strong case of homesickness filled Sakura's heart. Despite the fact that this was the first time she'd ever moved out of her village, she knew that the true reason she longed for her previous home was because of how much of an outsider she felt here. Sure everyone was nice enough, but they had all grown up together, they all had histories here.

Tsunade herself had requested that Sakura come to Konoha because of her unmatchable chakra abilities, but Sakura had never felt more like she had nothing to offer the world than she did now.

"Haruno-san!" Sakura paused in her mental quest for purpose and bristled when she recognized the voice.

"Lee-san," she greeted to the person ninja who fell into pace with her. "You can't have been discharged more than ten minutes ago, I hope you're not injured again already."

Lee laughed harder than was probably necessary at her sarcasm (joke, if she were trying to be polite). "Oh Haruno-san, your wit simply astounds me. You are one of the most intelligent people I know."

Sakura snorted, "And yet I'm not allowed to be a ninja, where's the fairness in that?" She could sense Lee's discomfiture, but she couldn't help it. Since her amazing chakra skills had been discovered when she was a little girl, all Sakura had ever dreamed about was becoming a powerful ninja. But the laws of the land stated that no woman—no matter what her chakra control was like, no matter how powerful she was or how many times she'd proved herself—could become a ninja. The only option for a woman with skills in chakra control was the medical field, usually a healer. Sakura, however, was an exception, and was expected to follow in Tsunade's footsteps as her new apprentice.

"Erm, yes, well…you are an amazing healer, Haruno-san!" Lee continued, scratching the back of his head. "Or, may I call you Sakura?"

She watched him out of the corner of her eyes for a moment before nodding. Unfortunately, Lee seemed to take this as the "go ahead" and stepped closer to her.

"Well then, Sakura-san, how would you like to go to dinner with me?"

Sakura practically choked as she gasped and swallowed at the same time, her jaw clenching as she cleared her throat. "Um, Lee-san, I really—"

"I understand that it is far too late for dinner tonight, but perhaps tomorrow night?" Lee interrupted eagerly.

"Oh, well, I'm not sure I—"

"Then again, I completely forgot the hectic schedule of a doctor, maybe it would just be easier for you to tell me the next night you have off and I'll work my schedule around it!" he continued, beginning to babble about several nice restaurants and a new movie he was looking forward to seeing.

"Lee-san _please_," Sakura said with a stern tone, finally ceasing in her walk home so Lee could understand how serious she was being. "I appreciate your offer, really I do, but I just can't accept it."

Seeing Lee begin to open his mouth in protest as his eyebrows drooped, she lifted a hand up, "I just moved here a few months ago, I'm still trying to get my bearings here. I haven't even unpacked all of my boxes. I'm really sorry, but I won't be able to go out with you. And please don't take this as a hint to try later on, I really am just not interested in seeing anyone."

When Lee made no move to speak again, Sakura gave him a final apologetic smile before setting on her way home. She held her breath, praying to anyone who was listening that Lee would just leave it at that.

Unfortunately, luck was not on her side tonight.

"You'd truly rather be alone?" he called out, now several meters behind her.

Sakura stopped walking, but didn't turn around, "For now, yes. Good night, Lee-san."

"Good night, Sakura-san," Lee breathed out, still standing in the middle of the street, his hands tucked half-heartedly into the pockets of his ninja uniform.

"That girl is quite a mystery," he said to himself—not noticing the small group of old men and women who had been watching his interaction with Konoha's newest medic. "And so beautiful, too. I swear, beauty like that can only be a curse, a curse by some love-hating demon."

Not that he truly believed Sakura to be cursed—although with her exotic looks, it would have made sense not to rule it out entirely—but he felt as if an angry demon who had once been rejected put a curse on Sakura to make her the most beautiful woman in the world, only to reject every suitor she came across.

With a final rejected sigh, Lee kicked at a stone on the road before making his way down to the local bar to meet with some friends.

Unbeknownst to the bowl-cutted ninja, the small group of elders stood together in silent shock.

"The girl has been cursed," an old woman whispered.

"Have you seen her hair? No one could ever be _born_ with hair of that color," another said.

"This is the work of a demon."

An old man slammed his wooden cane on the ground, "We must get rid of her, before she can cause further havoc for the young men of our town."

O-0-O

It was nearly midnight by the time Sakura had gotten into her warm futon. She pulled her quilts up around her so only her hair was visible. Sleep was just around the corner when suddenly there was a harsh knock on the door.

"What the—" She sat up, listening to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

Once again, someone pounded on the door, only this time the noise was accompanied by various angry shouts. "Haruno Sakura, open up at once!"

Sakura barely had time to get to her feet before her door was kicked open. About a dozen and a half people crowded into her small apartment, all glaring at her. Several were holding holy books, others carried flashlights. What alarmed Sakura most though, was the rope two men were holding, and the pure white silk kimono another woman held.

"W-What's going on?"

"We know what you are!" a woman snapped.

"You're cursed!"

"You're a danger to our children!"

"What in the world are you talking about? I'm not—"

"Your hair is pink and your eyes shine like emeralds," the first woman snapped. "You have a perfect figure and your skin looks white as the snow outside. There's no way you got your appearance naturally.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Sakura insisted. "My skin is so pale because I never get outside from working so much, and my hair is this color because my mother had red hair and my father had white! I swear!"

"Listen to her lie freely!" an old man called from the back.

"Enough of this!" another man ordered, "Grab her!"

Sakura yelped, attempting to jump back but two of the men grabbed her arms and before she knew it, she was unconscious.

O-0-O

By the time she woke up, Sakura was being carried in the back of an old wagon. She shivered in the cold and looked down to see that she was clothed only in a thin white kimono with doves detailed on the sleeves and the hem. Her hands and feet were bound and her hair had been roughly pulled into a bun on top of her head. Whether they truly shone like emeralds or not, her eyes widened as she realized that these people were taking the notion of "sacrifice" pretty seriously.

Just as she was about to peek her head up to see where they were heading, a large dark castle came into view. It looked to be centuries old, she could hardly believe anyone actually lived there.

The cart jolted to a stop and suddenly two hands reached down to yank her up and out. The crowd passed her up towards the front entrance of the huge castle and Sakura immediately sensed a dark aura coming from inside.

"What is this place?" she asked, looking to the person closest to her.

"It is the manor of the demon clan Uchiha," an older man sneered as he shoved her towards the door.

"You can't really be serious about sacrificing me!"

"We want nothing to do with a cursed woman," an old woman hissed from the back of the crowd as two men opened the front doors. "Let the heartless demon deal with you now."

"Wait, no!" Sakura was shoved unceremoniously into the entryway of the castle, unable to brace herself for the fall, seeing as her hands were tied. She fell face first onto the wooden floor, her hair beginning to fall from its bun into her face.

"What is going on here?" a new voice asked quietly. The crowd behind Sakura gasped and backed away quickly.

"Well?" the voice continued. In her position, Sakura was unable to maneuver herself up to get a good look at the person standing above her, all she could see was a pair of black shoes about an inch away from her face.

"Th-that woman has been cursed! See her unnatural beauty!"

The man standing over her reached down and hoisted her up by the collar, finally giving Sakura a good look at him. He had long silver hair and wore a mysterious mask over half his face. His lone eye moved up and down her form, seemingly appraising her.

"I sense nothing spiritual about this woman," he said calmly. "Only that she has an amazing amount of chakra."

"Take her to Sasuke!" another man shouted, "We don't want her!" And with that they took off.

The silver haired man looked at Sakura once more before lifting her into his arms. She gasped and clutched her bound wrists to her chest at his movements, but remained silent otherwise. If this was the castle of a demon, surely this man was some sort of demon as well? Truthfully, Sakura wasn't sure if she wanted to find out.

"Do not be afraid, young lady," he said quietly, his unmasked eye staring straight forward as he walked them up a staircase and down a dark wing. "I know you're not cursed. You're not going to be sacrificed."

Sakura wanted to know what he planned to do with her then, but she was too terrified to ask. She chose to remain silent and kept her gaze on her lap as the man continued down the hall, occasionally shifting his grip under her knees or around her shoulders.

Eventually they came to a tall wooden door. The man finally set Sakura upright on her feet, pausing a moment to knock on the door before entering some sort of silent answer.

"What do you want Kakashi," a voice growled from a shadowed corner. Sakura gasped, she hadn't even seen anyone in the room.

The man—Kakashi—pushed Sakura towards the direction the voice came from. "This girl is from Konoha, they believed her to be cursed and wanted to _sacrifice_ her to you."

Sakura barely had a moment to be curious about the sarcastic tone Kakashi used when he spoke of her intended sacrifice, before she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and goose bumps rise up on her skin. She knew instantly she was being watched by whoever it was in the corner.

"Tch. Why have you brought her to me?"

"Konoha wants nothing to do with her, she has nowhere else to go. I came to see if you wanted to keep her," he said simply.

"Actually, I only moved here recently," Sakura said quietly. "I could just go back to my old home—"

"Bring her into the light," the voice intoned. Kakashi pushed Sakura forward until she was standing next to a window, bathed in the moonlight. By now her hair had fallen completely out of the bun and rested in an unruly manner on her shoulders, the thin kimono about to slide off one of her shoulders. Her jaw clenched as she could feel a pair of eyes look her up and down.

"Very well, she will stay here."

"You can't be serious!" Sakura snapped, her eyes widening as she looked back at Kakashi. His eye crinkled a bit but she couldn't tell what facial expression he was making under the mask. He stepped up to her again and hoisted her over one shoulder, much to her protest.

"Put her in the dungeons."

"Sasuke," Kakashi hesitated as he made his way towards the door, "are you sure that's the best place for her? After all, who knows how long she'll be staying here. Why not let her at least be comfortable, if you're going to keep her prisoner."

The being in the corner remained silent for a moment, considering. Sakura could barely make out his figure, red eyes glared back at her and her stomach somersaulted when she thought she saw the outline of wings.

"Fine. Take her to a room in the east wing."

Kakashi nodded once more and started towards the door. Despite being bound, Sakura kicked and swung her fists to his back as hard as she could. "Damn it! You can't do this! Let me go!"

She swung her head up to face her captor, not minding the way her hair fell in front of her face or how exposed her chest was by the way the kimono fell from this angle. "You bastard! I swear, I'm going to—"

Her heart skipped a beat as she saw him in full light. She had never seen anything like him before in her entire life. Something that looked so evil, so angry, the very epitome of hatred. He snarled at her reaction before jumping back into the shadows, his dark blue hair swishing behind him.

For the rest of the trip to her new room, Sakura remained silent, unable to get past the sadness she saw in the demon's eyes behind the angry face. Kakashi paused to unlock another large wooden door, and then dumped her gently on a large four poster bed. He reached behind him and grabbed a knife. She gasped at first but relaxed once she realized he was merely cutting the ropes that bound her.

The room was nearly entirely dark, but she could still make out his relaxed pose as he stopped in the doorway. "By the way, what is your name?"

Sakura stiffened, but answered anyway, "Sakura. My name is Sakura."

"Well Sakura, I truly hope you enjoy your stay." And with that, he closed the door behind him. She gritted her teeth when she heard the sound of the door being locked.

"Damn it!" She grabbed a pillow and chucked it at the door, continuing to fume until she worked herself into exhaustion.

Unbeknownst to the girl, a pair of red eyes watched her from the shadows, slightly amused at her little temper tantrum. Truthfully, Sasuke had no idea why he had decided to keep the girl. Sure she was beautiful but that was no reason for him to keep her prisoner.

While he hated to admit it, the desperation in this girl's eyes—Sakura, she'd said her name was—reminded him of the loneliness he felt every day in his icy heart. Though he doubted she could ever learn to love him, she was the first person he'd come in contact with besides Naruto and Kakashi in nearly one hundred years, and he couldn't help but seek out the companionship.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Sorry I took kind of a while to update! I was very busy this week—I finally turned 18! And I've been doing all kinds of things now that I'm a legal adult :)

Anyway, I'd love to hear your feedback!


	3. Be Our Guest

**Title: **The Beauty and the Beast  
**Author: **Aurora Ciel  
**Characters/Pairings: **Sasuke/Sakura, Naruto/Hinata, Kakashi (minor: Lee, Tsunade)  
**Rating: **M  
**Warnings: **Language, violence in some chapters, sexual content in later chapters  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto, nor the musical and/or Disney movie _Beauty and the Beast_.  
**Notes: **Wow it has been months since I last updated, I'm so sorry! To be honest, my first semester of college really got the better of me. I had to focus all my time and energy on classes, as well as making new friends. But I've finally gotten the hang of things and been able to build up a routine, so I figured I'd have a go at this whole writing thing again! I've been thinking about this story for a few days now and I'm going to try to get it back up and running again! I can't guarantee my updates but I will do my best! Thank you for sticking by me during such a huge transition in my life!

* * *

**Chapter Two:  
**"**Be Our Guest"**

Sakura awoke to the sounds of muffled voices. With a groan, she sat up in her large bed, using the morning light to finally get a chance to take in her surroundings. The four poster bed didn't even take up half the room; stunned, Sakura pushed her warm blankets back and got to her feet. This room was probably bigger than her whole apartment.

The bed itself was practically a work of art—intricate designs were etched into the wooden posts and head and footboards. A thick, forest green blanket covered the crisp white sheets. Sakura cocked her head slightly, she'd been so exhausted last night she hadn't even noticed.

Moving towards the large windows that reached from the ceiling to the wooden floorboards, Sakura looked out to see the grounds of the castle. She was admittedly surprised by the beauty surrounding the castle—emerald green grass, dozens of trees scattered across the lawn, and surrounding the large lawn was a pristine forest. Sakura couldn't see any sign of Konoha, however.

_Maybe it's facing the other direction,_ she wondered.

She reached up and ran a finger along the velvet curtains that matched her blankets. Once again she was surprised by this demon's exquisite tastes. A large wardrobe sat in the corner opposite her bed, but she sighed when she opened it and found it empty.

_Of course he wouldn't have any clothes in here,_ she told herself. _He's a male demon who lives alone, why would he?_

There was a lone bookcase near the door. Like the windows, it stretched from the floor to the ceiling. It was covered in dust, as were the various books on the shelves; obviously the master of the house didn't use this room much. Sakura spotted a window seat in the window at the center of the others and she briefly thought to herself that she could get a lot of use out of it with this bookshelf.

Shaking her head, Sakura quickly corrected herself. It's not like she was going to stay here, after all. She needed to come up with an escape plan. That demon—Sasuke, she'd heard everyone call him—didn't seem very sociable but the other guy Kakashi—did he work for Sasuke?—had been pretty kind to her. Maybe if she could win him over, he would convince Sasuke to set her free.

Her stomach rumbled loudly and she blushed slightly, pressing a hand against her abdomen. "First things first," she muttered, "I need food."

She made her way over to the large mahogany door, tentatively resting her hand on the doorknob. Up until now she hadn't even considered the fact that if Sasuke considered her his prisoner, he may have locked her inside. Heart pounding, Sakura turned the knob, surprised to find it unlocked.

Cautiously stepping into the silent hallway, she glanced around, but there was no sign of life anywhere. The voices down the hall started up again so Sakura decided to test her luck there.

Her bare feet padded quietly across the cold wood floors, eventually the voices got louder and she found herself looking down a balcony at what she assumed was the main hall of the castle. There was another young man and woman down there. They looked around her age but Sakura had no idea who the pair was. The man had spiky blonde hair and the woman's was short and dark. She stood quietly next to the man who was talking animatedly to someone Sakura couldn't see.

She frowned, where was that Kakashi? He was the one she needed to see. She was sure he would be the one to offer her some kind of breakfast.

Sakura watched as the two shifted and Sasuke came into view. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of him, finally getting to see his dark features in the light.

_So I didn't imagine it,_ she thought. _He truly is a demon._

Despite his strange skin tone and claws and wings, the one feature Sakura couldn't get past was the sadness in Sasuke's eyes. While it was clear he was arguing with the blonde boy, looking more annoyed than actually angry, Sakura could see the pain and sorrow in them.

_What has happened to this poor man to make him so miserable?_ she couldn't help but wonder. _He seems so…lonely._

Sakura had been so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice the conversation below her had stopped until Sasuke slowly turned to her, scaring the living daylights out of her. He blinked up at her slowly, his crimson eyes calculating.

"Hn. So you're awake. Took you long enough."

O-0-O

Sasuke had heard Sakura the moment she woke up. He was sure the others had too but neither of them had said anything, choosing to follow his lead and continue their conversation.

He snorted to himself. More like _interrogation_.

While he paid attention to what they were asking him about her, he kept part of his attention on the pink haired girl, listening to her light footfalls as she made her way around her room—exploring her new surroundings, most likely—before finally coming out to the balcony where, for some odd reason, she chose to hide and watch them.

He had no idea why she was doing that. Did she really think that little of his kind that she didn't know he could hear her every move? If he really concentrated, he could hear her every breath, even her heartbeat.

_What a stupid girl,_ he thought to himself.

Cutting off the annoying berating of his friend, Sasuke turned back to the girl, watching the surprise take over her face and her body go rigid with tension.

She stammered out a nervous reply when he spoke to her, her vibrant eyes searching his with curiosity before she stepped out more fully to the balcony. Sasuke stood there silently for a moment, waiting to see the disgust seep into her features at the sight of him, but it never came. The only emotions he could read from her were curiosity and slight fear…he could smell her nervousness too. He was hardly surprised, though. This girl had no idea what her standing with him was and was still probably adjusting to her new surroundings.

After a while, he could sense one of his companions behind him begin to fidget with unrest and he didn't even need to turn around to know which one it was. Sasuke knew it was only a matter of seconds before the fidgeting would progress into contact.

"Hey, Sakura-chan! Why don't you come down here!"

Of course.

Sakura looked startled as she glanced back at the two behind him, as if she was just noticing them for the first time. She met his gaze once more, searching for permission, before moving for the stairs when he made no move to tell her to do otherwise.

Once she finally made it over to them—humans were so damn slow—she stood tall with her hands clasped behind her back, not necessarily shy or nervous, but cautious.

Due to her open aggression last night, Sasuke was slightly surprised when she continued to remain quiet. He'd thought for sure the girl would demand to know what was going on, or at least ask for something to eat—he'd heard her stomach rumbling while she was watching them.

"It's nice to finally meet you! I'm Naruto, I've heard so much about you!" Naruto shouted happily, stepping forward and reaching an arm around Sakura's shoulders.

"Y-You have? Like what?" Sakura questioned.

"Like that you're a medic from that human village and you have really powerful chakra and you have exotic looks which is why your people thought you were cursed by a demon so they decided to sacrifice you to Sasuke-teme—why they did that, I have no idea…what were they expecting him to do with you? Eat you? Cause that's just disgusting. No offence, but I seriously doubt humans taste good and I—"

"Naruto-kun, please," a voice interrupted. "You're rambling again."

Sasuke watched as Naruto stepped aside for her and he heard Sakura gasp at the sight of the girl's eyes.

"You're…you're a Hyuuga," she murmured. He was actually taken aback when the girl suddenly combed her fingers through her hair and straightened out her flimsy kimono.

"My name is Hinata," the other woman corrected, her face flushed red.

Sakura nodded, then offered a sheepish smile. "You have to forgive me," she said, laughing nervously. "It's just…you're a Hyuuga Goddess. I've heard so much about your clan, to meet you is just…wow."

Naruto laughed, "Hinata-chan gets that reaction all the time! I don't get why you humans are so shocked by the sight of the Hyuugas!"

"Naruto-kun, you forget that in the human world Hyuuga are considered practically royalty," Hinata reminded softly, placing a gentle hand on the blonde's elbow.

Sakura turned to Naruto, "So if Hinata-sama is a Hyuuga, what are you?"

Naruto frowned, "I'm nothing."

"Oh come on, you're obviously something! Come on, it can't be worse than a lowly human like me, right?" Sakura teased, but her efforts didn't really help his mood.

Sasuke sensed that Sakura was realizing her mistake and took a step forward, finally choosing to take over the conversation.

"Sakura." She jumped slightly before turning back to him, keeping her head lowered slightly in an obviously submissive posture.

"You will stay here now, as a gift from your villagers." He knew that Naruto was about to toss in an objection at any moment so he stepped closer to the woman, signaling to the other two that this conversation was meant to be between him and his keep.

"You may go wherever you want in the castle, but you may not leave the grounds. Do not go in my quarters. Do not speak to anyone you don't know. And no matter what, do _not_ go into the forest. Understood?"

Sakura's eyes flashed, "You _can't_ be serious! You actually expect me to stay here like some kind of prisoner?! This is kidnapping!"

"No, this is me giving you a hell of a lot of freedom for being my prisoner. If you're this upset with your treatment, maybe you would prefer to stay in the dungeons for the rest of your life," he snapped. He had no reason why, but this girl made every nerve in his body crackle with energy.

Seeing the anger and fierce determination in her eyes, Sasuke gritted his teeth and forced himself to calm down, not wanting to actually cause a scene. "Now stop acting like a spoiled child and do as I say."

She huffed and crossed her arms, "Yes, Sasuke-sama."

"Hn. Don't call me that either."

Sakura blinked at him, surprise seeping in through her anger. "Ah—yes, Sasuke."

"Trust no one except Hinata, Naruto and Kakashi." He left himself out purposely, it was obvious she would never come to trust someone who looked like he did.

She nodded once more before flushing a deep red as her stomach growled loudly. Sasuke couldn't help but stare at her. He'd completely forgotten that she was probably starving. He had no idea of the last time she'd eaten. He was almost surprised that she hadn't said anything.

Hinata stepped forward, "You must be hungry, let's go get you something to eat and then I'll show you where you can take a hot bath."

Sakura grinned at the Goddess in gratitude. "That sounds amazing, I'm all sticky from some kind of oil they rubbed on me."

Naruto's eyebrows raised and Sasuke sniffed lightly, sure enough the reeking stench of some kind of ointment the humans believed to be sacred covered her body. How he'd missed it earlier, he had no idea. Now that he'd noticed it, it was like he couldn't get rid of the scent. From the way Hinata was handling Sakura, it was obvious she'd noticed it from the start.

"Sasuke, do you have anything for Sakura to change into?" Hinata asked quietly, turning back to him.

He scowled. Obviously he didn't have any female clothes…aside from a few of his mother's kimono but he sure as hell wasn't going to be lending those out.

"Hn. Hinata, you will take Sakura to get some necessary items once she is done." Hinata nodded once before heading down the hall with Sakura, who was scowling once again.

He and Naruto watched in silence as the two women left them. Eventually Kakashi came up to them, arching his eyebrow at Sasuke.

"Y'know Sasuke, Sakura is a very beautiful girl," he said casually.

Sasuke snorted, "Tch. What's your point?"

"Maybe she could be the one to break your curse…."

"Yeah Teme! Plus she's really nice and if she's a medic she must be smart too!" Naruto added, beginning to dance in place excitedly.

"You two are idiots," Sasuke snapped. "What would a girl like that ever want to do with me?"

"That's true," Naruto agreed, rubbing his chin as he nodded. "You're not very chatty and that whole monotone thing gets annoying after a while. Not to mention your complete lack of social skills and sensitivity—"

"The point is," Kakashi interrupted, shooting a look at Naruto, who shrugged, "let her get to know you. Open up to her. Be _kind_ to her. Maybe she'll see something in you that even _you_ didn't know was there."

With that, he grabbed Naruto by the collar and dragged him towards the kitchen, most likely using food to distract the half-breed. Sasuke remained where he stood, staring at the place Sakura had disappeared to.

_Be…kind? Tch. How in the hell am I supposed to do that?_

O-0-O

Once she was fed and freshly bathed, Sakura followed Hinata to a door at the back of the castle. Together they stepped out onto the grounds, following the gravel path towards a tall wooden gate right at the edge of the forest.

"I thought I wasn't supposed to go into the forest…" Sakura started, but Hinata pulled the door open to reveal a bustling marketplace.

"Sasuke's castle has many portals to different worlds," Hinata explained as she crossed through, waiting for Sakura to follow. She locked the door securely behind them with a special key she'd pulled out of one of the pockets in her kimono.

"So the door I came through last night…the one the villagers brought me to…was a portal to my world—the human world?"

Hinata nodded. "You must be careful which doors you take, Sakura; you may be surprised where you end up."

She took a step closer, taking a quick glance around the marketplace. "Now, you may have recognized that we are no longer in your world. You must stay close to me at all times—Sasuke and Naruto are not bad demons but many out there _are_. Walk a pace behind me and keep your head bowed, so it looks as if you are my servant."

Hinata led Sakura through the crowds, where she made sure to keep her gaze down. She could feel thousands of eyes on her, probably wondering what a lowly human like her was doing there. No one bothered her, though. _Courtesy of Hinata_, she figured.

Eventually they came up to a stand where a rainbow of kimono were displayed. Some had fine gold design work and glittered in the sunlight. Others had been stitched with some kind of pearly thread. Sakura was in awe of their beauty; each one looked to be different from the others. Whoever had made all these was quite the artist.

"You may pick out however many you want," Hinata informed her. "However, the vendors would never sell them to a human so you should tell me which ones you like and I will purchase them for you."

"Thank you," Sakura said quietly, her eyes still scanning over the intricate designs. "But I don't have any money…."

"Sasuke has given me some. You have unlimited funds."

_Well now there's a shocker,_ Sakura thought to herself. _I figured he would have only given her enough for one kimono at least._

"U-Um…okay then."

After they picked out a number of beautiful kimono, some sleeping yukata, a pair of sandals, and a few other random necessities, the pair decided it was time to return.

They'd been walking in silence for the past few minutes, Sakura's mind was working a mile a minute, but she had no idea to bring up the topic in her head. Eventually Hinata caught on that Sakura was holding back.

"You have something to ask me Sakura," she said quietly. "Go ahead, I am willing to answer any question you may have."

"I just…back when I was talking to Naruto…um, he said he was—well, what _is_ he, exactly?"

Hinata sighed, tucking some of her dark glossy hair behind her ear. Sakura bit the side of her cheek, fearing she'd overstepped her boundaries with the Goddess. _But she _did_ tell me she would answer any of my questions,_ she reminded herself.

"Naruto-kun was born a God, but his mother died when he was young and his father was gone long before he was even born," Hinata explained, nodding slightly to a group of young spirit girls who bowed to her excitedly. "He lived alone for most of his life and when he was still a youngling a powerful demon called the Kyuubi tried to take over his body. Despite his youth and small body, Naruto-kun was quite powerful and managed to overcome the Kyuubi.

"Not only did he overpower the Kyuubi, he actually trapped it inside his body. It lives within him and Naruto can draw on its strength and power."

"Is that where he got the whiskers from?" Sakura asked.

Hinata smiled, a slight blush tinting her cheeks, making Sakura wonder about Hinata's true feelings for the half-breed. "Yes, those are the marks of the Kyuubi."

"If it gives him more power, I don't really get why he sees this as such a setback," she admitted.

"Well not only does Naruto-kun no longer have a race to belong to—the demons won't accept him because of his pure heart and the Gods cast him out when he became _'_tainted'," Hinata explained. "But he also has to be in complete control of his temperament. If he gets too angry or upset, the Kyuubi could try to overpower him."

"That's terrible!" Sakura gasped. "Has it ever happened?"

Hinata shook her head, "No, but it's come close before. Luckily Sasuke has been able to calm the demon with his Sharingan. Eventually Kakashi suggested that Naruto-kun find help and he found me. Somehow I've been able to keep his temper at bay for the past fifty years."

Sakura grinned, arching an eyebrow. "Oh really? And why do you think that is?"

The blush on Hinata's cheeks multiplied tenfold and spread across her face and neck. "I-I have no idea…."

With a laugh, Sakura placed a friendly hand on Hinata's elbow, "Trust me, Hinata-chan, I know why."

The two girls smiled at each other before a God with a large round belly gave Sakura a strange look. She was sure it was for touching her "mistress" and she immediately removed her contact, gathering the rest of her bags in her arms and bowing her head slightly. Hinata quickly walked them away, pausing in front of a small table in front of a trinkets shop.

"What is this?" Sakura asked as she adjusted her grip on her bags.

Hinata reached down to the table, pulling a small golden, cylindrical whistle from a rack of various charms. "Do you know what this is, Sakura-chan?"

When Sakura shook her head she continued, "It's a security whistle. A God can put a spell on it so when the wearer blows it, they will be the only one to hear it, no matter where they are."

"Sort of like a dog whistle," Sakura mused. Hinata gave her a look that told her the Goddess had no idea what she was talking about, but she shrugged and took it from Hinata's hands.

Hinata paid the vendor for the whistle before turning back to Sakura. She covered the hole on the side and pressed the mouthpiece to Sakura's lips, instructing her to blow her breath into it. Sakura did as she was told, watching as Hinata carefully capped off Sakura's breath with her thumb. She whispered a few words that Sakura couldn't quite make out before wrapping her own lips around the small tube and sucking in Sakura's breath from it. It shone a bright white light for a moment before returning to its previous appearance.

"Now what?" Sakura questioned, taking the whistle from Hinata and pulling it over her head. The thin gold chain was chilly against her skin and she shivered from the feeling of the cold metal of the actual whistle pressed between her breasts.

"The ritual is complete, it is programmed so that when you blow into it, I will be the only one to hear it's call," Hinata explained. Her eyes widened as she watched Sakura bring the whistle up to her lips and blew hard. The Goddess pressed her hands to her ears quickly while no one else in the marketplace seemed to react to its sound. Even Sakura couldn't hear it as she blew.

"I had no idea how painful those were if both parties were standing too close," Hinata said breathlessly. "Perhaps it would be wise for you to only use it in emergencies."

Sakura smiled sheepishly, "Well at least we know it works…."

O-0-O

By the time the girls returned, Sasuke was growing anxious. The entire time Sakura had been gone Kakashi and Naruto had been coaching him in how to "be nice." The lessons didn't seem to be working, however, because with each poke and prod from the two the more agitated Sasuke became.

Finally he sensed Hinata's presence and smelled the light, sweet scent he'd come to associate Sakura to in the back grounds. All three males got to their feet as Hinata and Sakura entered the sitting room.

"Sakura-chan, Hinata-chan, you're back!" Naruto greeted, jumping up to look at Sakura's purchases. "Ne, Sakura-chan these kimono are really pretty! _Don't you want to come see, Sasuke-teme?_"

Sasuke scowled at the blonde's lack of subtlety but Sakura didn't seem to catch on to what the half-God was insinuating. He peered at her from a distance, hastily searching his mind for one of the phrases Kakashi and Naruto had been practicing on him.

Everyone was looking at him expectantly, except for Sakura, who looked confused and slightly uncomfortable with the way the others were acting. She opened her mouth to speak when Sasuke suddenly took a step forward.

"You should give me those bags, a weak human like you must be exhausted," he barked out.

There, he offered to help her. He looked to Naruto and Kakashi for approval, but the two just stared back at him, dumbfounded. Before he could even realize that he'd said the wrong thing, Sakura was fuming.

"_Excuse me?_" she growled. Sasuke blinked, he didn't know humans could _make_ that kind of sound. "How dare you! I'm not some _weak human_, I am a top medic! I may be human but I have more stamina and strength than you could ever imagine. I don't care who you are, Sasuke, you don't know what you're talking about and _you don't know me!_"

With that, she grabbed her bags and stormed off, a startled Hinata trailing behind her. Sasuke blinked in surprise. And here he'd thought he'd been doing the girl a favor.

Once she was out of hearing range, Naruto smacked his forehead and dropped into an armchair. "What were you _thinking_, Teme?"

Sasuke frowned, had he said something wrong?

Kakashi sat down in the chair next to Naruto's, both of them facing Sasuke like a panel of judges. He arched his lone silver brow up at Sasuke, who just continued scowling. He still didn't understand why everyone was reacting this way.

"He doesn't even know what he did wrong!"

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke snapped.

With a sigh, Kakashi leaned back in his chair, pressing his fingertips together. "Sasuke, not only did you manage to call Sakura weak, you also insulted her for being human."

"Plus you ordered her around again!" Naruto chipped in. "How did you _think_ she would respond when you said that to her?"

"…Hn." He turned, crossing his arms and staring out the window.

"I believe a rough translation would make out to something like: 'You seem tired, would you like me to carry those bags for you?'" Kakashi offered.

"Why couldn't you just say _that_, Teme?!" Naruto bemoaned, throwing his arms up and falling back into his chair dramatically.

They heard a door slam shut and then a few moments later a solemn Hinata returned to join them. She perched lightly on the edge of one of the sofas, her eyes telling them that Sakura would not be coming out for the rest of the day.

Kakashi scrubbed at his face with one hand, "Well, it looks like we've got our work cut out for us."

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**Author's Note: **My, that was a long chapter! Looks like I've gotten my sea legs back! I'd love to hear some reviews :)


	4. Wolf Chase

**Title: **The Beauty and the Beast  
**Author: **Aurora Ciel  
**Characters/Pairings: **Sasuke/Sakura, Naruto/Hinata, Kakashi (minor: Lee, Tsunade)  
**Rating: **M  
**Warnings: **Language, violence in some chapters, sexual content in later chapters  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto, nor the musical and/or Disney movie _Beauty and the Beast_.  
**Notes: **Thank you for the great reviews everyone! One of you asked if all the chapters are named after songs from the movie and yes, they're all songs from the movie or the show. They also give a little hint to what's going to come in the chapter, but that's all I'm going to say!

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**Chapter Three:  
**"**Wolf Chase"**

Sakura was fuming.

"'Weak human'…what an arrogant jerk!" she muttered to herself as she paced around her bedroom, where she'd locked herself inside for the past few hours. "How can someone be so rude? It's just…unbelievable!"

With a groan of frustration, Sakura threw herself onto the cushiony window seat. Her reflection glared back at her as she looked past the glass to view the dark grounds as the sun began to set.

_I'm not a weakling…I'm Tsunade-shishou's apprentice, aren't I?! I'm stronger than most humans out there, that's for sure! _

About an hour ago Kakashi had brought in a tray full of food but Sakura refused to even look at it until he was out of the room and well on his way down the hall. A part of her considered not eating it at all, not wanting to let Sasuke think he could so easily win her over, but another part of her—the medic part—knew that she needed food and therefore she'd gone against her stubbornness in favor of sustenance.

_I need to get out of here,_ she thought to herself. _But how? I'm sure Sasuke would hear me if I tried to go through the main door._

Pouting, Sakura leaned into the crook of her arm where her elbow was pressed against the window pane. Suddenly she perked up, staring at the forest at the edge of the grounds.

_Maybe…maybe if I can get to the forest I can make my way around to the front and get through to Konoha! _Excited, she glanced around. _But how do I get out?_ _The window?_

She peered down, pressing her forehead against the cool glass. She was on the third level, quite a drop to the ground. _Not a chance._ _Maybe if I'd had proper ninja training, but since my skills are honed on healing alone, there's no way I'd be able to support myself._

Looking back to her door, she remembered the door Hinata had led her through to get outside. The door that was exactly two floors below her, if she was remembering correctly. Cautiously, Sakura opened the door and peered down the hallway.

All was still.

She slipped her sandals off her feet, choosing to hold them in her hands to be quieter. She'd put them back on once she'd made her way to the forest. The door clicked quietly as she closed it behind her. The entire castle was completely silent as she made her trek to one of the stairwells, the stone steps cold against her bare feet.

Finally Sakura reached the main floor and she paused once more to listen for anyone. She was almost suspicious that she hadn't heard anyone, or worse, been found. Still, she knew she had come too far to just turn around like a dog with its tail between its legs. She had something to prove! Imagining the look of surprise on Sasuke's face when he'd discovered she'd managed to escape made the risk worth even more.

With an extra boost of determination, Sakura made her way down a dark hallway to where she found the door Hinata had brought her to that morning. She glanced behind her one last time and sensing no one around, she pushed past the heavy door, creeping along the wall towards the corner closest to the forest. Once she'd reached the farthest end of the castle, she took a deep breath, hiked up the skirts of her kimono, and made a run for it.

The ground was still frozen from the harsh winter; sections of the great lawn were covered in a few inches of snow, so Sakura had to maneuver her way around them to keep her bare feet safe. The grass was cold and wet between her toes and within minutes her feet were numb. Sakura was beginning to regret not wearing any footwear, but she was directly in the open now, it was too late for her to stop and put her sandals on.

The cold night air pressed against her chest, making her lungs feel rock hard in her chest. Her breath was coming out in puffs as her breathing staggered. Again the thought crossed her mind that she was somewhat surprised no one had caught her or made the attempt to stop her.

The thought cleared, however, when she finally reached the forest, allowing herself to stop and rest for a moment once she'd disappeared into the dark protection of the trees. She leaned against a tree, panting and clutching at her chest as she struggled to regain her breath.

_I made it,_ she thought to herself, her chest filling with pride. She let out a small cheer and made a leap into the air. After she'd lowered her breathing to only a slight pant, she realized what a predicament she'd put herself in.

Instead of stopping right at the edge of the forest, Sakura had inadvertently run further into the forest than she'd realized. Now all she could see were trees and darkness. She thought she could see a faint light in one direction so she chose to walk that way.

A few minutes later and Sakura had decided she was most definitely lost. Goosebumps rose up on her skin and she could feel the hair at the back of her neck stand up. Finally remembering the sandals in her hands, she leaned up against a tree to secure them to her feet.

As she bent over, she heard a branch snap only a few feet away from her. Instinctively straightening up, Sakura narrowed her eyes to try to see into the darkness. More branches snapped and now she could hear crunching in the remaining snow.

She was not alone.

"H-Hello? Sasuke? Naruto?"

And suddenly there it was. A low growl that could only mean one thing: danger. Heart pounding, Sakura stepped backwards until she came in contact with the rough bark of a tree. She could hear more footsteps and the growling was coming closer, only now it was coming from more than one place.

A pair of beady red eyes appeared from behind a pine tree, its penetrating gaze looking up at her in hunger. Two more came out from behind a tree and suddenly there were at least half a dozen looking back at her. Sakura let a choked gasp as one thought went through her mind.

She was trapped.

One of them to her left snarled and finally she could see them—wolves, larger than any she'd seen before. Their fur was a dark charcoal gray, tangled and matted, some of it coated in something thick and dark. Blood.

The snarling one suddenly hurtled forward at her, she shrieked and chucked one of her sandals at it, hitting it right on the nose. It was startled for a minute before its snarls turned even more ravenous and it barked out to the others.

Apparently throwing the shoe was a bad choice because now the wolves were even more angry and bloodthirsty than before. They all closed in on her, crouching back, getting ready to pounce.

Sakura stepped on something hard. She looked down, a thick branch was resting against the tree trunk. Picking it up, she held it out in front of her, not intending to go down without a fight.

One of them closed in on her, its long claws ripping at the fabric of her kimono and barely grazing the top of her thigh. She screamed again, bringing the stick down hard on its head. A loud crack rang out in the forest and the wolf dropped, lying motionless on the ground.

Sakura stared at it in disbelief. She just killed something. She couldn't believe it, her head was spinning and suddenly it was getting hard to breathe. Turning around, the rest of the wolves growled with fury before they ran at her collectively.

Tucking herself into a small ball, she braced herself for the pain…but it never came. A ferocious roar echoed throughout the trees, but this time it was different from the wolves'. Peeking up slightly, Sakura was stunned to see Sasuke standing protectively in front of her.

She couldn't see his face, but she was sure it was a terrifying one because the wolves began to back up slowly. Sasuke turned back to her, his eyes gleaming a deadly crimson as they searched her body for wounds.

Movement behind him brought Sakura's attention back to the wolves and she shrieked once more as she saw one of them leap up at Sasuke.

"SASUKE, BEHIND YOU!"

Her warning hadn't come soon enough, however, and the wolf landed hard on Sasuke's back. He groaned as it bit down hard on his shoulder, before grabbing the wolf and throwing it off of him.

As he turned around, more of the wolves came at him. Sakura watched as Sasuke tossed them off like flies, many of them not even managing to land a scratch on him.

A few of them did, though, and every time Sakura watched jaws bite down or claws graze his dark skin, she felt like her heart was about to shatter into a million pieces. But Sasuke never faltered, always batting them away like it was nothing.

Just when Sakura thought Sasuke was going to end this, the wolves charged him at once, piling up on top of him until Sakura couldn't even see him anymore.

"Sasuke!" Looking down at the branch in her hands, she raced over towards him, hitting the wolves with all her might.

_This isn't enough,_ she thought to herself. _I need to do more, if only I could…_ Suddenly she felt a strange burst of power shoot through her arms, the branch connected with a body and one of the wolves flew into the trees.

Sakura stared at her hands in disbelief, she felt the same way she did when she used chakra to heal people. Was this what it was like to use chakra in battle?

She didn't have time to contemplate further, because she heard a frustrated growl and then Sasuke threw the rest of the wolves off of his body, sending them in all directions. A few of them connected with trees, letting out soft whines as they eased themselves up and scampered away. The rest of the wolves followed, scurrying away quickly.

Once they were sure the wolves were gone, they turned to each other—one in stunned silence, the other unable to speak from panting so hard. Taking in the scratches and bite marks that littered Sasuke's body, Sakura felt hot tears slide down her frozen cheeks.

She took a hesitant step forward, "S-Sasuke, I—"

Her words were unheard as, with one last heavy pant, Sasuke fell forward. Sakura darted over to him, allowing him to wrap his arms around her, his head pressed into the crook of her neck.

Startled, Sakura stood there for a few minutes, trying to process everything that had happened. Sasuke's staggered breathing was hot against her neck, she could feel his sweat dripping down from his face onto her shoulder.

After a while, his dead weight became too much for Sakura to support on her own. "Sasuke?" she whispered, reaching a tentative hand up to stroke his long dark hair. "Sasuke, do you think you can walk back?"

Her only response was a soft grunt.

"Sasuke…Sasuke-kun, you're too heavy for me. Please help me," she whispered, pressing her cheek against his.

Her words finally seemed to sink in, with a final groan, Sasuke lifted his head and managed to start walking in the direction of the castle. Sakura was thankful that he knew how to get back, because she sure didn't. Keeping an arm around her shoulders, Sasuke's weight was hard to bare, but Sakura was determined to help him back. It was the least she could do after he'd saved her life.

O-0-O

Sasuke and Sakura sat quietly by the fireplace, Sasuke slumped in an armchair with Sakura kneeling beside him. She'd offered to heal his wounds for him, saying it was the least she could do. Kakashi had brought her a bowl of warm water and a cloth for her to clean Sasuke's wounds before healing them.

Pressing the warm, wet cloth to a gash on Sasuke's shin, Sakura finally lifted her gaze from her hands. When her eyes met his penetrating ones, she bit her lip nervously.

Her voice was soft, "Those wolves sure were scary."

"Hn. They weren't wolves, they were wolf demons."

"Oh." Of course, those wolves seemed more vicious than normal. "What's the difference?"

"Wolf demons are more powerful and more dangerous."

They grew quiet again before another question that had been bothering Sakura had to come out, "How did you find me?"

He looked down at her smugly, "I heard you leave the castle and I watched you run into the woods."

"Why didn't you stop me?"

"I wanted to see how far you would make it."

Suddenly Sakura felt very stupid. She'd obviously failed his test. "How did you know I was in trouble?"

"I was listening for you, so I started after you once I smelled the wolves. It wasn't until I'd heard you screaming that I realized I was almost too late."

Sakura sighed, "Sasuke, I'm sorry…."

"Hn."

At his blatant dismissal of her apology, her unease turned into anger. "Will you _stop _saying that?" she snapped.

Sasuke snarled as, in her anger, Sakura scrubbed a little too harshly at one of his wounds. Her anger sparked his temper and he jerked away from her. "If _you_ hadn't run away, we wouldn't even be here!"

Sakura's eyes narrowed, their color darkening to a striking shade of emerald. "Well can you blame me? Who would _want_ to live with such a jerk?!"

"Who would want to live with such a stubborn brat?!"

Sakura huffed, about to retort when one of Sasuke's wounds caught her eye. Their arguing had caused one of the gashes she hadn't gotten to yet to open up even more, blood was now trickling down his side. Sakura's eyes softened and she quickly pressed her hand to it, releasing her warm chakra into his body.

Wiping the rest of the blood away, she moved in closer so her side was pressed up against his leg. Her fingers skimmed upwards to a bite mark on his left pectoral. She kept her gaze on her hands.

"By the way," her voice was so soft he almost thought he'd imagined it at first. He peered down at her from the corner of his eye but continued to keep his face turned away. Sakura smiled softly, "Thank you…for saving my life."

Sasuke turned to the girl in shock, when Sakura used her chakra to heal the wound over his heart. He felt a warmth seep into his heart and he wasn't sure if it was her chakra or something else. His eyes softened and he stared at her openly. With the light of the fire behind her, this woman looked stunning. Her cheeks were rosy and her eyes glittered from the firelight, her light hair spread across her shoulders in loose waves. Her lips were slightly parted as she sat back, looking up at him.

He felt himself nodding at her, "Aa."

"And," she smiled sheepishly, tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear, "I promise not to try to run away anymore."

He smirked slightly, moving the leg she was leaning against so it was pressed against her soft body even more.

"Good."

O-0-O

Unbeknownst to the pair, a solitary eye was watching their exchange, a pleased smirk hidden behind the mask on his face. From the moment he'd first seen her, Kakashi had known this girl would be special. He had not only sensed a great amount of chakra within her, but a powerful and loving heart.

And now, watching these two, he knew there was a good chance Sakura could be the one to break Sasuke's curse. All they'd needed was a push in the right direction. Sakura stroked the strong muscles in Sasuke's forearm, before laughing lightheartedly at something Sasuke had said.

With a happy sigh, Kakashi left the two to carry on alone. He glanced back at them one last time and decided that it couldn't hurt to give them another little push.

* * *

**A/N: **Yes I know this chapter was a little shorter, but don't worry the next chapters are going to get longer! I just had to cut it off here for the sake of the story.

Please, please, _please_ review!


	5. Something There

**Title: **The Beauty and the Beast  
**Author: **Aurora Ciel  
**Characters/Pairings: **Sasuke/Sakura, Naruto/Hinata, Kakashi (minor: Lee, Tsunade)  
**Rating: **M  
**Warnings: **Language, violence in some chapters, sexual content in later chapters  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto, nor the musical and/or Disney movie _Beauty and the Beast_.  
**Notes: **Whew I am just on an updating spree! Thanks so much for the feedback, it's a great motivator. I've also got a new fic idea but I don't want to start it until I finish this one so I'm kind of trying to move things along and start wrapping this one up. Don't worry though! There's still a ways to go here! Also, the "w" and "s" of my keyboard have been sticking lately—don't know why but it's been driving me _insane_—anyway, I'm pretty sure my spell checker should pick up on any I miss, but just in case, I wanted you all to know why.

* * *

**Chapter Four:  
**"**Something There"**

With the passing time the snow began to melt, as did Sasuke's icy personality. Each day he and Sakura grew closer and closer and the demon was finding that he was actually looking forward to seeing her when he woke up in the mornings and wondered what she was dreaming about at night. This beautiful girl who was the epitome of a warm spring day was casting out the winter cold surrounding Sasuke's heart, bringing warm sunshine back into his life for the first time in years.

While it was only the middle of March and spring was not entirely in full swing yet, he'd learned that Sakura greatly enjoyed walking around his gardens. Despite the thin fabric of his white shirt, his tough demonic skin was enough to brave the cold and with a thick wool cloak, Sakura was able to as well.

A light breeze filled the air with the scent of fresh wildflowers as the two walked through the gardens in companionable silence. Sasuke watched Sakura, who was humming to herself as she knelt and picked some of the flowers, creating a bouquet full of beautiful colors.

"You're good at that," Sasuke commented quietly when Sakura stood to join him.

She looked up at him curiously, "What, flower arranging?"

He nodded, remaining quiet.

Sakura wrinkled her nose and gave him a wide grin, "It's not that hard—I just find flowers with pretty colors that go well with the others."

"I could never do that."

"Well, I'm sure with practice you could. I've been doing this since I was a little girl." She shyly tucked her hair behind her ear, looking down at the flowers in her hands. "My…my mother taught me. Right before she died."

She looked up at Sasuke and was barely able to hide her smile at the awkward uneasy look on his face; obviously he had no idea what to say to her. Offering him a grin, she started walking and he kept up a comfortable pace with her.

"She died before I turned ten, I was so young. Pneumonia—a really bad case, I guess. My father and I stopped talking really after that and last year when I turned nineteen I decided to take up Tsunade-shishou's offer and move to Konoha."

"For your medical skills," Sasuke questioned.

Sakura nodded, "And while I get homesick sometimes, it's nice to know that I'm needed. Like, I'm actually here for a purpose, you know?"

"Your mother would be proud of you." At Sasuke's quiet statement, Sakura felt her throat tighten and her sight began to blur with unshed tears. Embarrassed to have almost started crying in front of him, she blinked them away quickly.

She cleared her throat and said breathlessly, "This was hers." She pulled out a small silver pendant that hung around her neck, just above where Hinata's necklace lay.

"It's a rose," he commented softly.

"Roses were her favorite flower—white roses. We always grew them in our garden when I was younger. She gave this to me when she got sick, I haven't taken it off since. I'll wear this necklace until the day I die," she said confidently, holding her head a little higher.

Sasuke glanced down at her, "Your family must have been really important to you."

She nodded, fingering her necklace as she turned to him, "What about yours?"

For a moment Sasuke was silent and Sakura worried that she had said the wrong thing. She was about to open her mouth and change the subject when his voice interrupted.

"My parents died when I was young as well, killed by my brother."

Sakura gasped, "_What?_"

"My clan was one of the most powerful, we have a bloodline trait all the Gods were envious of," Sasuke began. Sakura remained quiet, clasping her hands together over her chest as she listened intently. Sasuke had never spoken of his past before and she was determined to keep him talking as long as possible.

"But while my clan was very powerful, it was also very…messed up." He gave a small, wry smile and she grinned widely in return, elated to see him so at ease with her. "They were always fighting and many would hold grudges against each other for decades. No one trusted anyone, because everyone was liars or cheaters or backstabbers. Then one day they were all gone. My brother massacred the entire clan, for reasons I still don't know, and left me alive."

"What…what happened to him?"

"I haven't seen him since."

Sakura's heart broke for him, to be alone for such a long time. Well…exactly how long, she wasn't sure. "Oh Sasuke-kun, I'm so sorry. How old were you?"

"I can't exactly remember when, but I was very young. I was still a child. It was more than two hundred years ago."

It took a moment for Sasuke to realize Sakura had stopped walking. Surprised, he turned to see her standing, frozen in shock.

"Sakura?"

"_Two hundred_ years?" She stepped close, looking up to meet his gaze. "Sasuke, how old are you exactly?"

He scratched the back of his head uncomfortably, "Uh…two hundred-twenty?"

Sakura's eye bugged out and she struggled to regain her breath. "You're…" she panted, trying to get word out, "you're two hundred years older than I am."

Sasuke smirked down at her, "Tch. It's not that big of a deal."

Once she'd finally regained her composure, she pouted up at him, her lower lip growing plump and red as she stuck it out. Sasuke's heart skipped a beat, did she even realize how beautiful she was?

"Oi! Sasuke-teme! Sakura-chan!" a voice hollered from the castle. Sakura turned to see her new friend and waved widely at him.

"Hi, Naruto! We'll be right there!"

Sasuke frowned, slightly put out that Naruto had interrupted his time alone with the girl. But his negative feelings were erased tenfold when Sakura suddenly turned, grabbed his hand, and started dragging him towards the castle. Her hand was small and warm and soft against his, reminding him to be careful with his claws as he allowed his fingers to wrap around hers.

"Come on, I'll beat you there, old man!" And with that, her hand slipped from his to hike her skirts up. Sasuke watched dumbfounded as the human sprinted off ahead of him, before he came to his senses and smirked wickedly at her back.

"Hn. We'll see about that, you spoiled child!" he shouted back, taking off after her.

O-0-O

By the time Sakura had reached Naruto, she felt like she was about to go into cardiac arrest. She hadn't realized quite how far away she and Sasuke had been when she'd started running and it wasn't until she as about half way there that she discovered she wasn't as in shape as she'd thought she was.

Sasuke kept up a steady pace behind her and when he'd caught up to her and Naruto, he didn't even seem to be winded. He merely nodded at the half-demon and took Sakura's cloak from her as they walked into the sitting room.

While they made their way over to the seating area filled with several overstuffed armchairs and a few sofas, she continued to tease the demon. "Not only did you lose to a _human_, but you lost to a _girl!_" she shouted, skipping around Sasuke as she happily plopped down onto an armchair.

Naruto joined in as well, "You lost to _Sakura-chan_, Teme? Ne, you really must be losing it! All this moping for the last century has really gotten the worst of you!"

"Sakura," Sasuke arched his eyebrow at her and Sakura swore she'd never seen him look more like a spoiled little rich boy, "did it ever occur to you that I _let_ you win?"

"Psh, what are you talking about?! I've known you my entire life and you've _never _let anyone win, Teme! He was the most competitive out of all of us when we were young—you're just a sore loser!" Naruto shouted, continuing his rambling.

Sasuke scowled, crossing his arms as he slumped down onto the sofa across from Sakura. She giggled, leaning back and stretching her arms behind her before clasping them behind her head. Her feet dangled over the arm of the chair and she was content to swing them leisurely as she listened to Naruto continue to jibe at his best friend.

Closing her eyes, she listened to their banter for a few more minutes and before she knew it, someone was shaking her shoulder. Blinking up at whoever was next to her, Sakura blushed when she realized she'd fallen asleep.

"Sakura, you look exhausted, why don't you go take a rest upstairs?" Kakashi suggested, offering her his hand once he walked around the armchair.

Sakura allowed him to help her up before brushing off her lilac colored kimono. She arched her back to get the kinks out of it before nodding up to him.

"I think that's a good idea, I didn't realize how tired I was until I sat down," she looked over to see Sasuke and Naruto staring at her, causing her face to heat up even more.

Suddenly Sasuke stood, "I'll walk you to your room."

"Sasuke, I'm fine, really. I think I can find my way back on my own," she assured. She didn't miss the flash of disappointment in his eyes at her rejection so she stepped up to him, placing a hand on his elbow. "I had a lot of fun today, thank you."

He stared down at her, getting a strange look in his eyes, one she'd never seen before. After a moment he nodded at her, placing his large hand over hers. They stayed like that for only a few seconds but to Sakura it felt like they would be like that for the rest of their lives. A rush of warmth flooded through her body and suddenly it all became overwhelming and she drew her hand back, shaking her head slightly to clear it.

"I'll see you for dinner then?"

After Sasuke nodded his assent, Sakura waved goodbye to Naruto and Kakashi before making her way back to her bedroom. The walk back gave her some much needed time to think.

_He let me win, _she thought to herself. _Naruto said he never does that, but I'm _sure_ he could've beaten me if he really wanted to. He really _let_ me beat him…._

_Why am I acting like this?_ she wondered suddenly. _I feel so…free with him. I'm always so happy now when we're together, and I…I care about him. But sometimes it almost feels like—_

"No!" she said suddenly, freezing in her climb up the stairs. _I'm being held captive here, I can't forget that. I'll never forget that. He is a demon and I…._

Her hand stayed on the doorknob even after she'd closed it behind her. With a heavy sigh, she pressed her forehead to the thick wood, closing her eyes. She bit her lip, suddenly feeling very unsure about herself, a feeling she hated. It made her feel insecure and unsteady.

Opening her eyes, Sakura turned around and pressed her back to the wood. She slid down to sit against the door, wrapping her arms around her knees and pressing her face into the dark space created.

_He is a demon and I am his prisoner. I'm only being nice to him so I can convince him to free me. That's it, there's nothing more. There can't be more._

O-0-O

Sasuke watched Sakura leave before turning back to his friends. It wasn't until he sat down that he noticed Naruto giving him a strange look.

"_What?_" he snapped, glowering at the blonde as he scooted closer and invaded his personal space.

"You _like_ her," Naruto started, sidling up to his friend and squinting at him with an obnoxious smirk on his face. Sasuke smacked his hands away, standing up and crossing the room in a flurry.

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"Naruto, I think he's right," Kakashi intervened, causing both boys to turn to him in surprise. Then Kakashi arched his eyebrow in Sasuke's direction and the demon could just _tell_ that his guardian was smirking at him. "Sasuke is _in_ _love_ with Sakura."

Naruto snapped is fingers, jumping up and joining Kakashi. "Ne, ne, he's right Teme!"

Sasuke just continued to scowl at them, he crossed his arms and moved to stare out the window. It was already dark so there wasn't much to look at but he'd rather stare at nothing than face those two.

"I'm serious, Sasuke," Naruto continued, beginning to pace. "You're like, totally different. You're not as grouchy and you talk more and your table manners have actually begun to improve and you're even bathing on a regular basis! Plus you're always fawning over her and you bought her those expensive kimono and you let her boss you around…_and you let her beat you!_"

He snickered, "If _that_ doesn't prove it, then I don't know what does."

Kakashi and Naruto ceased their teasing when they looked back at the Uchiha, noticing him staring out the window, apparently deep in thought.

"Sasuke-teme," Naruto grew quiet, clasping his hands behind him nervously. "Do you? Do you love her?"

Sasuke didn't say anything, but he didn't have to. The look in his eyes when he turned to them spoke wonders. Naruto sighed, no longer in a teasing mood.

"Hinata-chan told me that Sakura-chan's birthday is coming up. Next week, Teme," he offered.

"You should do something for her," Kakashi suggested.

"Like what? I'm not used to…I don't know _how_ to do nice things for people…especially for someone like Sakura," he growled, keeping his gaze at the window. Kakashi and Naruto knew him well enough to recognize that this was Sasuke's version of asking for help.

"Well, Sakura-chan isn't very materialistic, so I bet she'd like a gesture more than an actual present," Naruto said, stroking his chin to show he was thinking. "You could take her somewhere?"

"And where exactly would you have a demon and a human go, Naruto?" Kakashi asked, raising his eyebrow.

The blonde laughed sheepishly and scratched the back of his head, "Oh yeah. I didn't think about that…."

"I guess I could…plan a dinner for her or something," Sasuke muttered.

"Yeah a birthday dinner!"

"How romantic," Kakashi cooed, chuckling at the look on Sasuke's face.

"And…Sakura likes walking in the gardens, I'll have some new flowers planted in time for her birthday."

"She'll love it!" Naruto shouted, pumping his fist into the air. "I'll ask Hinata-chan about the prettiest flowers. I'm sure she'll get them for you."

Sasuke nodded, already figuring out plans in his head as he turned back away from his friends, clearly signifying that the conversation was over. Kakashi followed Naruto out of the room, pulling him by the collar at the last minute to watch the Uchiha as he continued to stare out the window.

"Well who'd have thought?" he whispered to the blonde.

Naruto nodded back, "And who'd have guessed they'd come together on their own? There's definitely _something_ there…."

"Something there that wasn't there before," Kakashi agreed.

Sasuke sensed the pair watching him, but he continued to ignore them. He was too lost in his thoughts to care anymore. Sakura had changed everything about him. She was his life now. All he wanted was to make her happy. He would do anything for her.

He swore to himself this would be a birthday Sakura would never forget. Kakashi had said he was in love with her. At this point he didn't know what to think anymore. All he knew was that he wanted to be with her every day for the rest of their lives. Her laughter was like music, her smile brought warmth to his soul, her beauty amazed him every day.

Was _that_ love? Is that what it meant when his body longed to be by hers constantly, when he would completely lose focus at the sound of her voice, when his heart pounded at the sight of her?

Sasuke had never been in love before and it had been so long since his family had died that he couldn't even remember their love. He knew this was more than friendship—what he felt for Sakura he could _never_ feel for Naruto or Kakashi or Hinata. This girl meant everything to him.

So, he decided, maybe Kakashi and Naruto were right. And maybe it was time he told Sakura.

* * *

**A/N: **So in my Women's Studies class today we were discussing Disney movies and their effects on little girls and my professor decided to go on this total rant about how _Beauty and the Beast_ was really all about glorified domestic violence. I nearly pulled my hair out. So to spite her, I decided to update this chapter early! Enjoy!


	6. If I Can't Love Her

**Title: **The Beauty and the Beast  
**Author: **Aurora Ciel  
**Characters/Pairings: **Sasuke/Sakura, Naruto/Hinata, Kakashi (minor: Lee, Tsunade)  
**Rating: **M  
**Warnings: **Language, violence in some chapters, sexual content in later chapters  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto, nor the musical and/or Disney movie _Beauty and the Beast_.  
**Notes: **Wow I was actually really surprised to see how many of you reacted to hearing about my teacher referring to _the Beauty and the Beast_ as glorified domestic violence! I definitely agree with you guys, though, this story is not about an abusive guy and a submissive girl, it's about a girl changing a guy's life once he'd lost all hope. Anyway, enough of my hopeless romantic rambling. Thanks again for the great reviews you guys!  
**One last thing: **The title of this chapter is one of my favorite songs from the musical. I'm so sad they didn't put it in the movie. It's actually a great song for Sasuke and Sakura. I'd definitely recommend finding it on YouTube and giving it a listen.

_**Well after about a BILLION tries, I was finally able to upload! Sorry for the delay everyone!**_

* * *

**Chapter Five:  
**"**If I Can't Love Her"**

Tsunade let out a frustrated sigh as she poured herself another glass of sake. Rubbing her temples, she downed the entire thing and leaned back in her seat. She'd been having a rough past few weeks.

"Tsunade-sama," she looked up to see Shizune peering behind her office door. Tsunade raised her eyebrows in response.

"Team 11 returned from the mission, they couldn't find her anywhere," Shizune said quietly, closing the door behind her. The two women stood in silence—one not knowing what else to say, one not caring anymore.

After a while, Tsunade looked back up at Shizune, "I don't…I don't know what to do anymore."

"She didn't say anything about going on a trip or needing to get away?"

"No," she shook her head, which was starting to get slightly fuzzy but with all the stress lately Tsunade was ready to welcome the buzz. "She was quiet and kept to herself a lot, but she always seemed to be enjoying her work. I never caught on to her being unhappy or anything."

"TSUNADE-SAMA!" The door was swung open so quickly it nearly knocked Shizune over. The two women turned to Lee where he was leaning against the door, dramatically clutching at his chest as he huffed and puffed.

"Lee what is going on? I don't have time for this," Tsunade mumbled.

"I think…I know…where Sakura-san…disappeared to…" he panted. The Hokage immediately rose to her feet, ignoring the wave of dizziness that came with her rushed movement.

"Well? What happened?"

Finally Lee managed to calm down and walked further into the office. He took a deep breath, "The night before Sakura-san went missing, I had finally worked up the courage to ask her out on a date with me. Unfortunately, the fair lady declined my offer. Her rejection broke my heart and I ended up spending the night—"

"Lee!" Tsunade snapped, "Get to the point!"

"Ah, right," he smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "Well, after talking with several of the elderly citizens, I realize I may have made a mistake…."

"A _mistake?_ What kind of mistake?"

"Well, I had been speaking aloud to myself, marveling in Sakura-san's wondrous beauty…."

"_And?_"

"And…I did not realize there were people listening. I may…I may have alluded that Sakura-san got her beauty from…from a curse."

"You said that Sakura was cursed…_and the village elders heard you?!_"

That sheepish grin returned and Lee threw up his hands in apology. "I didn't realize they were listening!"

Tsunade groaned, beginning to pace. "Well this makes sense. At least now we know where she is…."

"We do?" Shizune asked.

"Years ago, before any of us were even born, when villagers thought a person was cursed they'd bring them to the demon's castle at the edge of the village," Tsunade explained. She turned to Lee.

"You want to save your dream girl?"

He puffed up with pride, "I would risk my life for her!"

The Godaime smiled slightly, "Alright then, Lee, do you know how to get to the Uchiha castle?"

O-0-O

Lee ran as fast as his legs could carry him, his arms flying behind him in the wind. He would save Sakura-san if it was the last thing he did!

He hopped from rooftop to rooftop, his feet barely touching the bricks beneath them. Stories of the Uchiha Castle and this demon Sasuke had been told for years and he'd passed by the area from time to time but had never really put much thought to it. Now he was about to enter unknown territory and fight a beast he had never battled before, let alone even seen. What did this Sasuke creature look like? Was he as horrifying as the stories portrayed him to be? Was he worse?

But it did not matter, Lee decided. Because the beautiful Sakura's life depended on it.

After several minutes Lee reached the grounds of the castle. A large brick wall lined the dirt path along the edge of the village. There was a large gate in the middle, it looked like it hadn't been used in decades.

Deciding against the gate, Lee jumped up over the wall. He landed swiftly and took off running again towards the castle. After a brief sweep of the area, he could only faintly pick up on a chakra, but he couldn't be sure whose it was. Did demons _have_ chakra? He didn't want to take any chances.

He moved to the back of the castle, where the chakra signature was. He stopped briefly, stunned to see a beautiful garden there. Every time he'd thought about the Uchiha demon or listened to stories about him, he'd always imagined creepy gargoyles, dark corners and creaking doors. Never once a vibrant, colorful garden.

Or…laughter?

Light, cheerful laughter. Like the sound of a bell.

Lee quickly masked his chakra, not wanting to underestimate his opponent. He peered around a corner of the castle wall and was stunned to see none other than Sakura walking with the demon! He looked over her quickly, checking for any signs of injury or fear, but she seemed to be perfectly fine.

In fact, she looked happy with this demon.

He watched the demon, noticing the longing glances and the small, tentative smiles in the girl's direction. Not that Lee blamed him—wearing a silky royal blue kimono with white flowers detailing the ends of the sleeves and at the bottom, Sakura looked absolutely stunning. Her long petal colored hair was loose and fell against her back in waves as she walked leisurely through the flowers.

Did Sakura actually enjoy being in the demon's company?

She giggled lightly, briefly touching his arm and Lee stiffened. He watched as Sasuke's blood red eyes softened at the sight of her smile and suddenly the Taijutsu expert knew the truth.

It wasn't difficult to tell—even though Sakura was doing the majority of the speaking, Lee could see the way Sasuke quietly listened to her stories, watching the way she enthusiastically moved her hands as she spoke. He could tell the demon was quiet by nature but was content to listen to this girl and walk with her in the garden.

While this demon may have taken Sakura as his prisoner, Lee had no doubt in his mind that he was in love with the beautiful medic. And apparently she had been tricked into thinking she reciprocated those feelings as well.

Narrowing his thick eyebrows in determination, Lee knew what had to be done. It was time he rescued Sakura from this monster and brought her back where she belonged.

O-0-O

Sakura had been stunned when she'd woken up that morning to find not only Sasuke, but Naruto, Hinata and Kakashi awaiting her downstairs for a birthday breakfast. Naruto had sung to her at the top of his lungs while a giggling Hinata brought her to the Guest of Honor seat at the head of the table.

Sasuke was silent as he sat down next to her, but she couldn't help but notice a certain look in his eyes that he hadn't had before. It was like after that night he'd saved her from the wolves, he'd been looking at her differently, treating her differently.

When he muttered a tentative "Happy Birthday" to her, she was horrified at the feel of her face heating up. By the looks on Naruto and Hinata's faces, Sakura was certain she was the color of a cherry tomato. But she shook it off, grinning widely at him and thanking him sincerely before digging into the delicious breakfast she slightly suspected he had prepared himself.

Later that day, Sakura returned to her room to find the most beautiful kimono she'd ever seen lying on her bed. She gasped, reverently running her fingertips along the silk and admiring its softness.

The deep baritone voice behind her startled her, "Do you like it?"

"Sasuke!" she gasped, laughing a little breathlessly. "You startled me!"

He frowned at her, clearly wanting to know her answer but refusing to ask her again. She smiled softly, tucking her hair behind her ear, before she reached down for the kimono again. "It's beautiful. Thank you."

With a curt nod, Sasuke stepped aside to allow Hinata to step through the door. "Dinner will be ready soon and then we're going to take a walk in the garden. Hinata has agreed to help you get ready."

Hinata looked at him for a long moment and he finally sagged his shoulders, turning back to Sakura, "If you want to…that is."

She couldn't help but grin at the childish look on his face now, "I'd love to, Sasuke-kun."

And with that, he left the two women to get ready. While Hinata had suggested Sakura wear her hair up, she insisted she was more comfortable with it down. Not really used to formalwear, Sakura allowed her friend to aid her in putting on all the layers of the kimono and applying the traditional make up.

When she got downstairs, she was met with yet another surprise. Sasuke had chosen to change into a yukata instead of his usual black pants and white haori. It was a simple black yukata with the uchiwa on the back like his haori, but Sakura was extremely pleased with the fact that he'd made the effort for her. Her stomach fluttered and her chest filled up with a warmth that she couldn't name—was afraid to name.

After dinner with just the two of them, Sasuke led her out to the gardens. She brightened instantly at the sight of all the new flowers. When he told her it was for her, she all but danced for joy. He let her take her time as they walked, smelling each of the different flowers and asking him their names.

As they walked, Sakura told him stories of her previous birthday mishaps and all the funny memories she had of them. Like usual Sasuke remained quiet for the most part, offering small smiles and nodding in all the right places and occasionally asking a question, but Sakura didn't mind. Ever since she'd gotten to Konoha she'd longed for home, where everyone knew her stories, but she'd found it was actually nice to have someone to tell them to.

When they'd finally gotten through the entire garden, she gave a content sigh and turned to him, "So which one is your favorite?"

"Hn?"

"Which flower? Which ones do you like the most?"

He blinked down at her and she found herself holding her breath for a moment before he turned and started walking back into the garden, "I want to show you something."

"But Sasuke!" she called, chasing after him. "We already went back here and—"

Sakura froze, feeling like her heart was up in her throat. She clasped her hands to her chest and let out a small whimper. Sasuke had led her past here before, but now she saw hidden behind a row of shrubs was a small cove, surrounded by a perimeter of the same type of bushes. In the middle was a lone rosebush—a white rosebush.

She stepped up to the roses, fingering the petals lightly before turning back to him questioningly. He scratched the back of his head nervously, walking up next to her and touching the roses as well.

His voice was soft and low, "This…is for you. Happy birthday, Sakura."

Tears welled up in her eyes and she let out a choked sob, throwing her arms around his neck. He stiffened under her touch, but relaxed after a moment, bringing his large hands to her back and holding her to him. She pressed her wet face against his chest, her heart skipping a beat when she felt him rest his chin against her head.

She sniffled once, not bothering to wipe her tears as she pressed closer to him, "Sasuke, thank you. Thank you so much."

She felt so safe in his arms, so warm and protected. Sakura wasn't sure how long they stood like that, but when Sasuke spoke suddenly she felt herself jump. His chest rumbled against her cheek and she found herself pressing closer. She wanted every inch of their bodies to touch, she wanted him to know how happy he'd made her.

"Sakura," he was saying. "You asked me my favorite flower."

"Yes?" she sniffled again, pulling her head back to look up at him. He grabbed her by the shoulders and wordlessly turned her to another section of the cove that she hadn't even noticed. She'd been so surprised to see the roses that she hadn't really taken the time to look at anything else he might have hidden back there.

The sight he turned her to, however, affected her even more greatly than seeing her mother's flowers. She gasped loudly, clutching at his arms as her knees nearly buckled beneath her.

Some feet away from the rosebush was a single sakura tree.

She turned back to him, "S-Sasuke…." His was staring back at her intensely and suddenly all she could focus on was the warmth of his arms around her and the pounding in her heart. Her fingers tightened their grip on his yukata; he bent his head down to meet hers.

"Sakura-san!"

At the interruption they jumped apart, not having time to question what was just happening. Sakura blinked in surprise at the intruder.

"Lee-san? What are you doing here?"

Sasuke glared at the ninja, "Get the hell out of here."

Lee flinched slightly but continued to make his way over to them. He pushed past Sasuke, grabbing onto Sakura's hands. "Sakura-san, you must come with me at once. The village has been under attack and Tsunade-sama needs your assistance."

"Under attack? By who?"

Sasuke grunted, "I haven't heard anything about it…."

"There's no time!" Lee shouted, waving his arms about. He turned back to Sakura, "Lovely Sakura, we must leave."

"But I…" she looked back at Sasuke, biting her lip in uncertainty. She hated leaving him like this, but if the village was in danger and civilians needed her medical help….

"It's a massacre!" Lee urged.

"All those innocent people," Sakura murmured, she quickly looked over to Sasuke with pleading eyes.

His looked resistant at first, she could see his stubbornness glinting in his eyes, but eventually he sighed in defeat. "Then you must go with him."

"What did you say?" she asked softly.

"I release you. You are no longer my prisoner."

"You mean…I'm free?"

"…Yes."

"Sasuke-kun," she grabbed his hand. "Thank you."

Before he could even answer, Lee yanked her away, forcing her to keep up with him. They cut through the gardens and as they rounded the castle, Sakura glanced back at Sasuke one last time. Her heart felt like it was being ripped to shreds at the sight of him wrapping his arms around his head and dropping to the ground.

Lee tugged at her even harder, forcing her to sprint next to him. Once they reached the edge of the castle grounds, he stopped suddenly and turned to her.

"Just follow the path to get back to Konoha."

She blinked at him in surprise, "Where are you going, Lee-san?"

He was already pushing her down the dirt road, "Go, go, Tsunade-sama has asked me to clear the perimeter. I'll join you shortly."

"But I—"

"First, may I have a token of your affections, Sakura-san?"

"A what of my what?"

"Something to remind myself what I'm fighting for—"

"You're fighting for Konoha," she interrupted.

"—something like this," he continued, grabbing onto her mother's necklace.

"My necklace? But it was my mother's. Lee, I'm not sure if I'm really comfortable with you wearing it…."

Ignoring her, Lee tugged hard, breaking the clasp and stuffing the necklace into his pocket. "I shall return it to you, Sakura-san!"

She watched blankly as he took off into the forest before shaking her head to clear it. _Snap out of it,_ she urged herself, taking off into a sprint down the path towards Konoha. _I hate the way I left things with Sasuke-kun, but if innocent people are in danger then I have to do all that I can to help them._

By the time she reached the main part of the village, Sakura was quite sure there was no attack. Still, she raced up to her mentor's office, blowing past a stunned Shizune and practically barreling the door down.

"Tsunade-shishou! Is everyone alright?"

Much to her surprise, Tsunade was perfectly calm as she sat at her desk. "Sakura," she grinned at her young apprentice. "I'm so glad you're safe. Come sit down."

She was much too anxious to sit, but she did come closer, leaning her hands against the chair in front of Tsunade's desk. "What is going on? Is Konoha under attack?"

"Konoha is safe, you have nothing to worry about now," Tsunade assured her, standing up and placing her hands on Sakura's shoulders. "Now let's get you cleaned up. Have you been eating? Do you need to sleep?"

Growing frustrated, she shoved the Godaime's hands away from her. "I want to know what's going on! Lee told me Konoha was in danger, what was he talking about? What was he doing?"

"Sakura, calm down. You don't need to be afraid anymore. Lee is taking care of the demon."

"_He's what?!_"

"Sasuke will never be able to harm you again."

Sakura took a deep breath, forcing herself to remain calm. "Tsunade-shishou," she spoke evenly, keeping her voice low, "I want you to tell me _exactly_ what is going on."

The Godaime blinked at her, probably both confused and slightly offended at her tone, but answered anyway, "I can't have that demon terrorizing anyone ever again. Lee is going to kill him."

Sakura lurched forward, placing her hands on her knees. "Oh my…I need to…good Kami, I…."

"Sakura, what's the matter?"

Suddenly Sakura shot up, elbowing her mentor out of the way and sprinting for the door. "I have to stop him!"

"Wait, Sakura! What are you talking about?"

"Lee can't kill him! Sasuke is my…I…I care about him! He can't die!" she choked out, feeling frustrated tears begin to streak down her cheeks. Tsunade wasn't letting her go, using that damn inhuman strength of hers to restrain her.

"Listen to us, Sakura-chan, he's brainwashed you," Shizune offered, stepping forward and offering the medic a glass of water.

"No!" Sakura shouted, smacking the cup away and sending water all over the room. Tsunade's grip tightened and Sakura was reminded of the night the wolves attacked her. If she could just remember how to use her chakra with her strength….

Suddenly she felt a burst of chakra push through her muscles and Tsunade and Shizune were both sent rocketing into the wall. Not even waiting to observe the damage, Sakura took off for the stairs, cringing at the sound of Tsunade's shouts of rage.

By the time she'd made it out of the Hokage tower, she was panting like no other. Her hands fell to her knees again as she struggled to catch her breath. _I'll never make it in time,_ she thought to herself. _If Sasuke-kun dies I'll…_ She paused, and let out a shaky laugh. _I must have the _worst_ timing in the world to realize how I feel about a guy._

She glanced up, seeing the sky was growing darker and feeling strong wind beginning to blow. It was growing dark and soon it was going to rain. She was running out of time.

Straightening up, Sakura brought her hand to her chest, suddenly feeling the second chain around her neck. She hastily scooped Hinata's whistle out of her kimono, staring at it in wonder. _How far does this thing reach?_ _Oh well, there's only one way to find out._

Bringing the whistle to her lips, Sakura blew a large breath. She couldn't hear anything, so she had no idea if Hinata had. Now all she could do was wait.

O-0-O

Sasuke sensed that the ninja who had taken Sakura—Lee, she'd called him—hadn't left his grounds yet. But he didn't care. Sakura was gone, and with her she had taken his last hope. He sat quietly in his dark bedroom, staring out the window.

She'd left before he'd even gotten to…well whatever he was going to do. He hadn't really planned it out, just figured he'd know what to do in the moment. But whatever he'd thought would _maybe_ happen between them was over before it could even begin.

Suddenly he felt it. A strong chakra signature just outside his door. It was brutally kicked open but he didn't even flinch. What reason did he have to live anymore?

"So you are the monster who kidnapped my beautiful Sakura," Lee accused, standing with his hands on his hips and his chest puffed out.

Sasuke snapped his head in his direction, "_She isn't yours,_" he hissed.

One of Lee's thick eyebrows arched upwards, "Oh really? Then why would she have given me this?"

Sasuke was shocked to see Sakura's mother's necklace dangling from Lee's hand. It glimmered in the moonlight as it swung back and forth. Sakura's voice echoed in his head, _"I'll wear this necklace until the day I die."_ If she had given that necklace to Lee, then it could only mean that he was even more important to her than her mother.

The cold realization that Sakura had left him for another man left an empty feeling in the pit of his stomach, his aching heart grew heavy. With a scowl, he turned away from Lee, glaring out the window again.

"When I told Sakura that there wasn't actually an attack on the village, she was so grateful to me for rescuing her that she gave this to me. She returned to the village and asked me to finish you off," Lee continued.

He had known right away that Konoha wasn't in danger, but there was no way he could deny Sakura. While every fiber in his body was telling him not to let her go, he knew she would be heartbroken if she'd thought she had stood by while civilians were in danger.

And if this was how Sakura really felt, if she would really rather be with this ninja than him, then he wasn't going to keep her here any longer. She was far too important to him to keep her prisoner.

Suddenly there was a loud crash and Sasuke looked up just in time to see a chair hurtling his direction. Instead of moving out of its way, he ducked his head, allowing his upper back to take the brunt of the blow. Lee began inflicting a series of brutal hits and kicks, all while Sasuke took each strike silently.

Growing frustrated by Sasuke's obvious lack of reaction, Lee grabbed the demon by the shoulders and hurled him through the window. The shattered glass of the window rained down around him as he flew to the ground heavily. He didn't look up until he felt something continuing to pelt down on him and Sasuke realized it actually _was_ raining outside.

The tiny shards of glass cut into his skin but he barely registered it, allowing the cool rain to wash over him. Lee stepped out onto the roof with him, picking him up again and tossing him further out onto the rooftop.

"You must not love the exquisite Sakura as much I do if you are not even willing fight for her!" Lee provoked, finishing with a swift kick to his ribs. Sasuke grunted but remained motionless, staring blankly through the strands of hair that were wetly clinging to his face.

"You'll never have her now, demon!" Lee shouted, lifting a chakra infused fist to deliver the finishing blow.

It was in that moment that he felt her presence.

"Sasuke-kun!"

* * *

**A/N: **Ah this has to be one of my _worst_ cliff hangers yet! I'm sorry this chapter took me a little longer to get up, I've been very busy with midterms and I had to put a lot of effort into this chapter. Obviously, it's very important to the plot and very dialogue heavy.

Anyway, I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible, but again, it's one of those chapters that I just can't rush. Trust me though, it'll be worth the wait!


	7. No Change of Heart, A Change in Me

**Title: **The Beauty and the Beast  
**Author: **Aurora Ciel  
**Characters/Pairings: **Sasuke/Sakura, Naruto/Hinata, Kakashi (minor: Lee, Tsunade)  
**Rating: **M  
**Warnings: **Language, violence in some chapters, sexual content in later chapters  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto, nor the musical and/or Disney movie _Beauty and the Beast_.  
**Notes: **Sorry for taking so long to update! I had a midterm to study for, a speech to write, and I _really_ wanted this chapter to turn out exactly the way I've been imagining it since I started. This particular chapter is basically the reason I wrote this story in the first place. I can remember the day I came up with the plot and decided to roll with it. And here we are today!

Oh I know you've all been hating on Lee, but I just have a quick side note: I tried to make his character a little different from Gaston's in the original story. I'm hoping you've been able to notice. Instead of being a total jackass, I tried to write him to be more of the socially clueless guy we all know and love him to be. Hopefully I wrote that off well enough. Anyway the point is I didn't really know how to write him out of the story and I didn't want to kill him off, so don't judge me for how lame that part may sound.

Just a warning: I'm _terrible_ at writing action scenes. Probably why most of my fics are AU. Anyway, I'm sure I make Sasuke sound pathetic and its very unrealistic, but keep in mind that he's practically at death's door by this point.

(_Sorry!_ _One last thing:_ the title is from my second favorite song from the show. Another one I'm angry they didn't put in the movie. It's really a beautiful song. I definitely recommend checking it out!)

* * *

**Chapter Six:  
**"**No Change of Heart, A Change in Me"**

"_You must not love the exquisite Sakura as much I do if you are not even willing fight for her!" Lee provoked, finishing with a swift kick to his ribs. Sasuke grunted but remained motionless, staring blankly through the strands of hair that were wetly clinging to his face._

"_You'll never have her now, demon!" Lee shouted, lifting a chakra infused fist to deliver the finishing blow._

_It was in that moment that he felt her presence._

"_Sasuke-kun!"_

At the sound of her voice, Sasuke's head shot up, whipping his soaked hair from his face. He couldn't believe it. There, standing just outside the castle, was Sakura, with Naruto and Hinata just behind her.

He stared down at her; her kimono was drenched and clung to her form, her wet maim of pink hair clung wildly to her face, but she'd never looked so beautiful. Sakura dragged a hand through her hair, pushing it out of her face.

Then he noticed it.

While her face was dripping with raindrops, her eyes were bleary and red—she was crying?

For…him?

_But that would mean…_

"Sasuke-kun!" she wailed again. "I'm so sorry! Get up, _please!_"

Naruto stepped forward, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. He held a hand over his eyes as he looked up to Sasuke, "C'mon Teme! You can do it! Sasuke, fight back!"

Naruto's words rang through his head. His half-breed best friend never called him by his first name unless he was serious, which was a rare occasion in itself.

_Sasuke, fight back!_

He got the message. Sakura wasn't leaving him for that crazy eyebrowed ninja. But that ninja wanted to take her away from him.

There was no way in hell Sasuke was going to ever let someone try to take Sakura from him again.

With that in mind, Sasuke pushed up onto his hands and knees. He grunted with the effort—his back was throbbing, several of his ribs were sure to be broken and the rest of his bones were close to it. But the sight of Sakura's agonized face was enough motivation to last him a lifetime. He didn't want her tears, he wanted to see her smile again. That vibrant smile that was the only source of light in his dark world.

Rising to his feet, he turned slowly and faced Lee, who faltered slightly before lifting his hands up defensively. Sasuke glared at the ninja, gathering up the last of his strength before rushing towards him head on.

As soon as their fists collided he regretted taking such a beating for so long. Because he'd been too much of an idiot to really think about whether or not Sakura would ever betray him, he'd allowed this bowl-cutted freak beat the life out of him. He was weakening by the minute. Every hit, every kick, every swing, every dodge he made was pouring the chakra out of him.

If he'd only had enough chakra left, he could have Chidori'd the human to a crisp. But fate was not on his side tonight and right now he barely had enough chakra to block Lee's attacks.

He wasn't about to give up, though. Not after Sakura had come back for him. There was no way in hell he'd go down without a fight. Sakura deserved at least that. She deserved more than that, but it was all he could give her.

O-0-O

Sakura couldn't see Sasuke anymore. He'd moved too far over on the rooftop, Lee chasing after. The rain pelting down into her eyes wasn't doing much for her vision, either.

"We need to get up there," she shouted suddenly, looking to Hinata and Naruto. They nodded, silent in their agreement, and all three raced to the large front doors to make their way to the roof.

Sakura had been surprised at how quickly Naruto and Hinata had made it to her. Barely a minute after she'd blown the whistle the two had appeared in front of her. After a hasty, breathless explanation from her, Naruto swung her onto his back and took off for the castle with Hinata close behind them. They traveled so quickly tears formed at the corner of Sakura's eyes. At least, that's what she told herself.

By the time they reached the castle, it was pouring out. Sakura let out a sob when she saw Sasuke being flung through a window. She couldn't believe he wasn't fighting back. She'd witnessed him take on a pack of wolf demons like they were flies but he wasn't holding his own against Lee. It wasn't until Hinata pointed out Lee must have used her departure as provocation for Sasuke that she had to call out to him. She had to let him know she'd come back for him, that she was there for him.

That she wanted him. Only him.

Naruto led her through Sasuke's chambers to the broken window he'd been thrown through. Not minding the pieces of glass scattered across the floor, she stuck her head out into the rain, frantically searching for any sign of him.

She caught sight of him swinging a large stone statue at Lee, who was knocked over from the impact. Sasuke loomed over the fallen ninja, a deadly look in his eyes that Sakura had never seen before. She didn't like this side of Sasuke—he looked like he was ready to explode. By the looks of him, anything could set him off.

"Sasuke!" she called out again, hoping the sound of her voice would calm him.

It did. The moment he heard her, his head jerked in her direction, his crimson eyes wild with pain and rage. But his gaze softened at the sight of her clear emerald eyes, pleading with him. He lowered the hand that had been ready to strike Lee and stepped over him to make his way over to her. She hadn't noticed until now that he'd changed back into his black pants and haori; he must have changed after she'd left but she was glad that he hadn't had to fight in a cumbersome yukata.

He clutched at his side, probably trying to support his ribs, as he stumbled over to her. The obvious pain on his face broke her heart. She leaned through the window, paying no heed to the edges of the broken window pane pressing into her stomach as she reached her hands out to him.

Just as their hands touched Sasuke was ripped from her grasp and thrown into the air. Lee's skin had darkened strangely as he began a series of aerial strikes to Sasuke's limp body. Sakura screamed for him to stop but he wouldn't listen to her. When she heard his final attack, her heart stopped.

"Primary Lotus!"

"NO!"

It felt like slow motion, watching as Lee brought his powerful fist right to Sasuke's chest. The sound of the blow echoed like lightening through the night sky, followed by Sakura's horrified screams.

Hinata tried to pull her back as she scrabbled up onto the window ledge, but she shoved the Goddess away from her, launching herself onto the rooftop. Lee panted heavily, glancing at her one last time before collapsing beside Sasuke. She shoved him away from Sasuke, crawling on her hands and knees over to the fallen demon.

Naruto began to growl and Hinata watched with wide eyes at the sight of the Kyuubi attempting to take over his body once again. His eyes bled red and that strange orange form of the Kyuubi began to take shape around his body.

"Naruto-kun!" She grabbed him by the shoulders, looking deeply into his eyes, urging for him to control himself. "You must calm down! Sasuke needs you right now!"

Blood red eyes jerked back to her, narrowing at first but then softening. She cupped his cheek, brushing her thumbs against the whisker marks on his skin. He squeezed his eyes shut and after a moment the orange outline of the Nine-Tailed demon receded. When he opened his eyes again they were that crystal clear blue she'd grown to know and love.

"Hinata-chan," he breathed, his eyes searching hers. "Thank you."

Her face heated up as she smiled at him, his hands moved up to cover hers on his face. "Sasuke is in trouble," she whispered, bringing him back to the present.

He nodded, pulling away from her and leaping out the window. Hinata followed and they raced over to where Sasuke and Sakura were sitting. As soon as she had grabbed him she'd brought her hands to her chest, forcing her healing chakra to flow into his body. But there was too much damage, too much of his body had already begun to shut down. The two looked on in pained silence as Sakura held Sasuke's upper torso in her arms, rocking gently.

Kakashi made his way over to them, a solemn look in his eye. At Hinata and Naruto's questioning gazes, he explained that he had brought Lee back to Konoha, knowing it was what Sakura would have wanted. They nodded in understanding before turning back to the heartbreaking scene before them.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura choked out, hot tears mixing with the cool rain drops sliding down her cheeks.

Sasuke blinked up at her, slowly bringing a clawed hand to her face. He brushed his thumb against her cheek, his dark skin a shocking contrast to the paleness of hers. "You came back."

"Of course I came back!" she snapped, sniffling indignantly and obviously trying to hide her worry. "I couldn't let—oh this is all my fault. If only I'd gotten here sooner."

"Maybe its better this way," he whispered back, feeling suddenly very tired. He was having trouble keeping his eyes open, and his heart was thudding heavily in his chest.

She covered his mouth with her hand, startled by how cold his lips had become. "Don't talk like that," she urged. "You'll be alright. We're together now, everything's going to be fine."

Sasuke coughed breathlessly, brushing his thumb against her cheek again. She cupped his hand with hers and pressed her cheek into his palm. "At least I got to see you one last time," he panted.

She closed her eyes and smiled softly. After a brief moment his grip on her cheek loosened and his hand slipped down. Her eyes shot open and she watched as his eyes drifted closed, his head falling loosely against her shoulder.

Sakura sobbed, clutching his lifeless form to her. "No!" she cried out, not caring about how she must look to the others. "No, no, no!"

The sight of this striking girl breaking down over such a demonic creature was stunning to behold, so heartbreaking, so tragically beautiful. Hinata felt tears gather in her eyes and leaned into Naruto as they spilled down over her cheeks. He wrapped his arms around her, needing to hold her as much as she needed to be held.

"Please…please don't leave me," Sakura was whispering, pressing her face into Sasuke's hair. "I love you…"

Naruto and Hinata's heads jerked up at that, while they had known there was something between Sasuke and Sakura, it was still a surprise to hear her admit it. Hinata whimpered, turning in fully to Naruto's embrace and tucking her face into his neck. Naruto, in response, pressed his face into her shoulder.

All was quiet, except for the soft chirping of birds in the distance as the rain finally stopped and Sakura's muffled whimpers. She jumped when she felt his body grow warm. His body felt like it was vibrating and as Sakura curiously lifted her head, she was shocked to see a mark on his neck begin to glow bright white.

She jumped back when the light suddenly exploded, blinding everyone momentarily. Sasuke groaned, his back arching up away from the ground, and Sakura quickly grabbed for his hand. By the time the light had faded, she could see his skin color slowly lightening. The claws pressing into her palm shortened into blunt fingernails at the tips of slightly calloused hands. His dark hair bled black and shortened, resting at the nape of his neck. Her mouth fell open at the sight of him—he was beautiful.

After a moment, Sasuke groaned again before slowly blinking. Sakura gasped, his eyes were like beautiful onyx diamonds. He looked up at her calmly and moved to sit up. Sakura, still unsure of this new man sitting before her, instinctively scooted back to sit on her feet.

Sasuke watched her wearily before reaching a hand out to her, "Sakura."

At the sound of her name, Sakura's eyes flashed and filled with recognition. She grinned brightly and let out a gleeful laugh before throwing herself into Sasuke's arms. Naruto whooped loudly and jumped happily, hugging Hinata to him.

"Sakura," he whispered again. Even though it was the last thing she wanted to do, Sakura pulled back to look into those intense dark eyes of his. They would take some getting used to, but she knew she already adored them.

Sasuke looked down at her with a serious look on his face. "Thank you," his voice was soft and still slightly raspy, but his words made her heart fill with warmth.

Sakura couldn't help but grin even wider. She was startled when he moved his face towards hers, but it was more of a nervous-startled than a disgusted-startled. Sasuke, however, seemed to take it the second way, because hurt flashed in his eyes as he began to pull away from her.

Realizing what he'd thought her reaction meant, Sakura just grabbed the collar of his tattered haori, pulling him closer to her and bringing their mouths together. Sasuke froze for a moment before his lips began to respond. His arms came around her once more and he tilted his face to deepen their kiss as Sakura let out a soft sound at the back of her throat.

After several more moments, a voice coughed rather loudly and the two broke apart. Softly, tentatively, Sasuke smiled at her and pressed their foreheads together.

"Sakura," his voice was low so only she could hear. "I…I…"

"I know," she interrupted, giving him that turbulent smile again and making his world shine. "I love you too, Sasuke-kun."

"Sasuke-teme!" Naruto finally called, drawing the two out of their little world. "Welcome back!"

Sakura grinned, watching as Sasuke stood and offered her a hand. After she was on her feet, he shed the remains of his haori, torn practically into three pieces by the transformation. She couldn't help but stare at his bare chest—while she'd fallen in love with him as a demon, she couldn't help but love the body he had as a God.

Naruto clapped Sasuke on the shoulder and hugged Sakura before he turned back to Hinata, hugging her again. She shyly pressed her lips to his cheek, giggling as a light blush covered his cheeks and the tip of his nose.

"Okay, this is the best day ever!" Naruto announced, wrapping an arm around Kakashi and pulling Hinata in closer with his other one.

Sakura smiled at her friends with love and hope and joy in her heart. She moved over to Sasuke, wrapping her arms around his waist. As he brought an arm around her as well, she leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Naruto, I completely agree," she said happily. She moved up to her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to Sasuke's cheek.

He looked down at her, his dark eyes shining, and he smirked slightly at her. "Aa. Me too."

* * *

**A/N: **No, this is NOT the last chapter—we still have one more! It's basically a chance for me to ((cough—write a SasuSaku smut scene since there aren't enough out there—cough)) tie up the loose ends. Please let me know what you thought!


	8. Tale As Old As Time

**Title: **The Beauty and the Beast  
**Author: **Aurora Ciel  
**Characters/Pairings: **Sasuke/Sakura, Naruto/Hinata, Kakashi (minor: Lee, Tsunade)  
**Rating: **M  
**Warnings: **Language, violence in some chapters, sexual content in later chapters  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto, nor the musical and/or Disney movie _Beauty and the Beast_.  
**Notes: **Oh here we finally are! I hope you enjoy the final chapter :)  
Also, you know those warnings at the top where it says sexual content in later chapters? **This is the later chapter.** Don't like, don't read.

* * *

**Chapter Seven:  
**"**Tale As Old As Time"**

_**Tale as old as time, true as it can be  
Barely even friends, then somebody bends  
Unexpectedly  
Just a little change, small to say the least  
Both a little scared, neither one prepared  
Beauty and the Beast**_

O-0-O

The four friends were relaxing contentedly in Sasuke's gardens, laughing and talking together. No one minded the fact that the lawn was soaked from the earlier shower or the fact that it was pitch black out—Sasuke and Naruto had retrieved some thick blankets for them to sit on and they built a large bonfire to sit next to. Naruto and Hinata sat on one blanket, sitting close together but not really in the touchy-feely stage of their relationship yet.

Sasuke and Sakura, however, were a completely different story.

Since his transformation, Sasuke used every excuse to touch Sakura—long fingers brushed a lock of hair from her face, a hand pressed to the small of her back as they walked, her small hand grasped in his large one as he helped her sit down. At first when they sat down next to each other, Sakura was still a little shy around this new Sasuke. She was content to just hold his hand for the first few minutes they all were together, but after a while she grew more comfortable around the handsome God and moved to lay her head down on his thigh.

Sasuke was startled at first, still coming to terms with the fact that this beautiful woman had accepted him, had loved him. He stared down at her, then looked up to see the knowing smiles on the others' faces. Lifting a tentative hand, he began stroking her pink tresses, marveling at their softness. Her hair was thicker and silkier than he'd been expecting.

"I knew it from the start," Naruto was saying, a smug grin on his face as he eyed the pair. "I could tell Sasuke had the hots for Sakura-chan right away!"

Hinata giggled as Sakura's face heated up, matching the color of the crimson kimono she'd changed into. "Did you know, Sakura-chan?" she asked.

Sakura's head perked up, "Know what?"

"That you would be the one to break the curse."

Sasuke felt her hand tense on his leg and was about to change the topic when Sakura sat up and looked at him.

"I think my heart did, it just took a while for the rest of me to catch up," she said softly, and Sasuke knew her statement was more for him to hear than the others. He couldn't believe it, what had he done to earn the love of such a kind, passionate woman like Sakura?

Eventually Kakashi wandered over to the group. "It's getting rather late," the spirit droned. "Perhaps you should get some rest and pick up tomorrow morning."

"Kakashi is right," Sakura agreed, stretching her arms behind her head and arching her back. Sasuke felt a wave of lust rush through him and was thankful that the darkness covered the flush that took over his face.

If Naruto or Hinata noticed his sudden scent change, they didn't mention anything as they stood. Hinata and Sakura hugged goodbye, agreeing that the Goddess and half-breed would return for breakfast in the morning. Sasuke and Sakura watched as the two wandered off to one of the many portals in the woods surrounding the castle.

The two walked through the castle in comfortable silence, each simply enjoying the other's company. Sasuke was glad that things were still exactly the same between them.

And yet, as Sakura slipped her soft hand into his, interlocking their fingers and resting her head on his shoulder, he decided that some changes were alright, too.

As they reached her bedroom door, Sasuke turned to Sakura, suddenly feeling nervous. She was looking up at him expectantly and he knew she wanted him to kiss her goodnight, but he wasn't ready for the night to end. He still had so much to say to her, to ask her. And Kami help him, there was so much he wanted to do to her tonight, but he had no idea how she'd react.

"Sasuke? What is it?" she was asking, reaching up and pressing her hand to his cheek. If she noticed how heated he was getting, she didn't show it. Her glorious viridian eyes just shone up at him with love and trust.

He scratched the back of his neck, "Are you tired? I mean…can we talk?"

She blinked up at him, "Right now?"

At his curt nod, the corner of her mouth quirked up and she nodded back to him. Suddenly he grabbed her hand, he didn't want to do this in her room. He wanted to prove to her he was really serious. He heard her gasp as he led her through the halls to where his quarters were.

Silently, he opened the large door for her, shutting it behind him quickly and guiding her over to his balcony. Sakura breathed in the cool night air, not minding the slight breeze. As they approached the large stone half-wall at the edge, she turned around and hoisted herself up to sit. Sasuke arched a dark eyebrow at the way she childishly swung her legs back and forth, but she just raised one back in response.

When Sasuke remained quiet, choosing instead to rest his elbows on the balcony and look out over the lawn, Sakura knew this was going to be a serious conversation. She stopped swinging her legs and turned slightly to him.

"Sasuke, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Are you happy here?" he asked quietly.

She was startled by his question and it took her a moment to fully process. "Yes. Of course I am."

"And…you love me."

Sakura wasn't sure if it was a question or a statement, but she answered anyway, "Yes."

He glanced up at her, "Say it."

"I love you, Sasuke. With all my heart."

"Then," he straightened up, cradling her hands in his. "Will you be my mate?"

Sakura's jaw dropped, while she knew he loved her, she was still a little shocked to hear him want to be so official about it. Was he…proposing to her? Did Gods even get married? Her head spun with a million questions as she realized she really didn't know that much about Gods and demons, but suddenly there was only one that mattered.

"Are mates forever?"

Embarrassed for some reason, Sasuke clenched his jaw as he glanced away from her. "Tch. Of course they are!"

She couldn't help but smile at his little attitude. Their time together had taught Sakura that Sasuke got a little testy when he was embarrassed or unsure of himself. And, given their current conversation, she was sure it was some of both.

"But…what'll happen in sixty years? I'll age while you stay looking like…_that_," here he couldn't help but smirk, "and I'll be this nasty old lady and what are you going to do when I die? How are we supposed to handle this in such a short time? And what about any children we have? Are they going to outlive me like you? Can Gods even have children? Can Gods and humans have babies together? What is everyone going to say about your mate being human, I mean I may be a renowned medic, but no demon or God is really going to give a rat's—"

"Sakura," he intervened, squeezing her hands slightly. "Relax. If you become my mate, we will be bound together eternally."

"You mean…I'll live as long as you do?"

He nodded, his heart pounding so loudly he was sure she could hear it. Sakura closed her eyes and took a deep breath before turning her gaze back to him. She looked so beautiful with her hair glowing in the moonlight, her cheeks flushed, and her eyes sparkling like the stars.

"Well then, I guess there's only one answer."

Sasuke leaned forward, silently pleading with her. Judging by the grin that escaped, she knew what he wanted. "Yes, Uchiha Sasuke," she wrapped her arms around his neck, her fingers tangling through his raven hair. "I would love to be your mate."

At her acceptance, Sasuke crashed his mouth against hers. His lips poured out all the love he felt into her. Sakura let out a breathy sound as she clutched his hair, pulling him towards her. He moved to step in between her legs but found her kimono was too restricting for her legs to spread that wide. Pulling back, Sakura looked down with a scowl. She squeaked when he suddenly tore the material at the middle of her thighs and dropped the discarded silk to the ground.

She raised her eyebrows at him and he just smirked boyishly at her. Sakura had to admit she was a little surprised by this new side of Sasuke, but as he dropped his mouth to her neck, sucking and biting lightly, she decided she didn't mind it at all.

He kissed his way along her jaw and she moaned breathlessly, pulling his hips forward so they were connected to hers. Sasuke groaned at the heated contact. While Sakura _really_ wanted to continue, she realized they were still sort of in the middle of a very important conversation.

Sakura pressed her hands to his chest and pushed back slightly. She couldn't help but giggle at the small pout on his face.

She cupped his face, bringing his eyes to hers, "Sasuke, how do we do this? I mean…how do I become your mate?"

When his already dark eyes grew even darker, Sakura felt a heated jolt shoot through her body and reside between her thighs. Sasuke smelled the sudden wave of arousal in her scent, his jaw clenched again and he wrapped his arms around her, pressing his face into her neck.

"After we…"

"Consummate our relationship," Sakura suggested.

"Aa, after you will become bound to me. You will essentially become like Hinata."

"A Goddess?"

He lifted his head to look at her, "In a sense, you will be an immortal human. Everything about you will be the same, you'll still keep your chakra skills, you'll just never age."

"Hm, nineteen forever with my gorgeous mate who doesn't look a day over twenty," she said with a sassy smile, "I think I can live with that."

They grinned at each other before Sasuke leaned in, their kisses chaste this time as they allowed the other to feel their love for one another. After a few moments Sakura grew bored with their innocent kisses, she wanted the rough, sexy Sasuke she'd had before.

"Sasuke," she panted, pressing her mouth to his ear. "I want to become your mate tonight."

He tensed, looking down at her with uncertainty. He was fairly sure she was as inexperienced as he was and wanted to make sure she fully understood what she was getting into.

"Sakura…"

She leaned forward, tugging his earlobe between her teeth and nipping slightly, "Sasuke-kun," she breathed. "Make me yours."

Her hot breath sent a wave of pleasure right to his groin and he let out a low growl, clutching her back and pressing her against him. Sakura pulled his hips to hers again, gripping his shoulders and wrapping her legs around his waist. Sasuke took the hint, sliding his hands from her back to her rear. He hoisted her up into his arms, letting out a low groan as gravity pushed her heated center right against his growing hardness.

He moved them into his bedroom and once again Sasuke found Sakura brought a shining light to his usually dark world. As he placed her on his bed, noticing how her light hair and pale skin contrasted with his black sheets, he was again reminded that this woman did not belong in his life.

"Sakura," he said quietly with a sigh, sitting down at her feet, "are you sure?"

Sakura had had enough with Sasuke's self doubt and depreciation—_he_ was the God and _she_ was the mere human! She couldn't believe how lucky she was to have a gorgeous supernatural being love her. Wanting to show him just how much she wanted to be with him, she sat up and arched one of her pink eyebrows.

Sliding her hands up to the folds of the kimono that covered her chest, she watched as Sasuke's gaze heated at the sight of her; knowing she had his full, undivided attention, Sakura tore her kimono open, revealing her dark pink bra and matching panties.

She smiled coyly at him, biting her plump lower lip to finish off her little show. With a low growl, Sasuke all but pounced on top of her, sending her crashing back into his silk pillows. Sakura giggled, reaching up to wrap her arms around him once more as he buried his face into the crook of her shoulder.

"You have no idea what you do to me," he groaned, dragging his teeth along her neck. His hands gripped at her hips before sliding up her sides to her arms, dragging them out of her silk sleeves.

Sakura panted and threw her head back against a pillow as his fingers trailed across her stomach, feeling her muscles clench at his touch. Sasuke moved his lips up her jaw to her mouth and she parted her lips to greet his. Their tongues danced hotly as he slid his hands up to cup her breasts. Her nipples ached, pressing through the lace material of her bra as if begging for him to touch them, to taste them.

She pressed her chest upwards into his touch and he understood her silent pleas. Reaching behind her, those long, regal fingers of his undid the clasp to her bra. It came loose, causing her pale breasts to spill out. Sakura was somewhat startled when he suddenly drew away from her, but then watched in understanding as Sasuke pulled off his white haori, revealing tight muscles and smooth skin.

Longing for skin-to-skin contact, Sakura hastily threw her bra to the side. As she fell back onto the pillows she pulled Sasuke down with her. The moment their chests rubbed together she gasped, instantly pushing her breasts into his firm pectoral muscles and rubbing her nipples against him.

That did little to soothe the ache; however, she found respite in his calloused hands as they came up to cup them. He pulled at her nipples, kissing his way down her collar bone until his mouth descended onto one soft mound. Sasuke attached his lips to her rosy colored peak, nipping occasionally and then soothing it with his hot tongue.

Sasuke shifted a knee in between her legs, drawing it up to her heat and pressing there just so. Smirking at her enthusiastic reaction, he trailed a hand down her waist, sliding it beneath those damn fuchsia lace panties of hers. He cupped her heat, his ears reveling in the breathless pants and high pitched whimpers she was making. As he slid a finger between her hot folds, he was shocked by how wet she'd gotten for him—all from just a little touching!

Feeling his male pride kick in, he pressed his hand further, sliding two fingers inside her. She was so hot, so tight, he broke from their kiss and pressed his forehead against her shoulder as he imagined how good that wet tightness would feel on another part of his anatomy that was aching for her attentions.

Sakura choked out a gasp as his fingers hit a certain spot inside of her. How could anyone make someone feel this good? As she bit her lip, trying in vain to quiet her breathy moans, she was sure that no human man could ever have made her feel this way. She was so close, the strokes of his fingers giving her a natural high.

The next thing she knew, Sasuke was pulling his hand away from her. She lifted her head from the pillows, making a questioning sound as he sat up. He just gave her that devilish smirk of his before tugging her panties down, tossing them over the side of the bed.

Her heart pounded in her chest as he parted her legs, sliding in between them. He slipped one of her legs over his shoulder and Sakura gasped at the feel of his lips moving up her thigh. Time was moving impossibly slow as Sasuke took his time getting to the place where she wanted him most. She was practically throbbing with need and when he tenderly pressed his lips to her.

"Ah! Sasuke!" she cried out, throwing her hands up above her to grip at the headboard of his bed. He peered up at her with a playful look in his eyes before lowering his head to her center once again, parting her lips and giving her a long, thorough lick. Sakura's cries grew even louder as he moved his lips up to suckle that small bundle of nerves, his fingers stroking everywhere his mouth couldn't reach.

When he thrust his tongue inside her, Sakura thought she was going to explode. Her heart was pounding in her breast, her face flushed, and her mouth hanging open. She was so close to completion, just a little more and she'd be flying off the edge.

Much to her surprise, Sasuke pulled his mouth away from her. Chuckling at her outraged huff, he licked his lips and kissed his way back up her body. Sakura flushed when she tasted herself on his tongue and lips and decided that she couldn't wait any longer. Her hands slid from his shoulder blades down to his black pants, pushing them off his hips.

Sasuke kicked his pants away once they got to his knees. He took a moment to stare at Sakura's bare body glowing in the moonlight and glistening with sweat. Her chest heaved with every breath, pushing her breasts out every time she inhaled.

Taking a moment to catch her breath, Sakura pushed her damp hair away from her forehead before smiling softly at him. He moved on top of her and when their lips met this time, the urgency was gone; the passion was still there but this was about their love for one another, not finding completion.

As their tongues danced in her mouth, Sakura slipped a hand down from Sasuke's shoulder to his thick length that pressed at her thigh. He grunted at her touch, breaking their kiss and gently rocking into her hand. Slowly, she guided his tip to her weeping center, aching for him to become one with her.

Sasuke his tip forward in between her moist lips and already the heat of her overcame him. He pressed his mouth to hers, hoping to soothe her from the pain they both knew was coming.

He snapped his hips forward, breaking past her barrier and swallowing her cry. They lay like that for a quiet moment; Sasuke trying to control himself at the feel of her heat gripping him like this, Sakura anxiously praying for the sharp pain inside her to subside.

She stared up at the ceiling, blinking quickly and trying to steady her breathing. The medic in her told her that this was a common reaction—it was her first time having a man inside her so of course it would take her body a moment to get used to the intrusion. However, the girl in her was screaming that _this fucking hurt and if things didn't start to get better—_

Sasuke shifted, trying to adjust his weight so he wasn't crushing her, but the movement caused him to stir inside her. And oh _Kami_ the feelings he created by that little movement.

"Oh," she breathed, feeling pleasure crash over her like a tsunami. "_Oh._"

Sasuke looked up to see the woman below him writhing in pleasure, biting her lip to try to control the sounds she made. Their eyes met—alluring jade and intense onyx—and wordlessly, Sasuke rose up onto his elbows. Ever so slowly, he began to move.

Sakura lay there for a moment, not exactly sure of what to do with herself, so she just let him continue to move in her. She began to pick up on his rhythm, matching his hip thrusts with her own. She wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him even deeper within her.

"_Sasuke,_" she moaned into his ear, lightly biting on the appendage. "Harder."

Good Kami the things her words alone did to her. At her command, Sasuke began to plow into the woman blow him, pulling back slightly to watch her toss her head back and forth against his dark pillows. He bent his head down to her chest, sucking on each peak for a few moments before moving back up to capture his lips with his.

Sakura bit down on his lip at a particular thrust that had her seeing stars. At his pleased smirk, she arched a thin eyebrow and clenched her inner muscles on him, making her so tight he could barely move inside her.

"_S-Sakura,_" he hissed. She chuckled breathlessly and cupped his cheeks, bringing their mouths together in a mind numbing kiss.

He was almost there, just a few more thrusts and he was sure he'd reach completion. Suddenly he remembered that there was a slight reason they were actually doing this behind just the pleasure of it all.

"Sakura," he breathed into her ear, one hand gripping her hip and the other sliding up to her shoulder. "You're absolutely sure."

It took her a moment to really process what he'd said, and then a few more moments to understand what he was asking. "Yes," she whispered back, nodding against him. "Forever and ever."

At her words, Sasuke tugged her shoulder down and bit down hard where it met her neck. The pain sent a delicious tingle down to her core and she swore she felt something change in her entire being. Sasuke sucked at his bite mark at the same time as he thrust powerfully into her. Sakura cried out, throwing her head back as her vision turned white and the coil inside her snapped.

A few more quick thrusts and Sasuke followed his new mate in climax, grunting as he pushed his hips to meet hers and allowed his release to flow into her.

They lay there for a while; the only sounds in the room were their panting breaths as they tried to catch their breath. Eventually Sasuke rolled away from Sakura and pulled her to rest her head against his chest, mindful of her tender shoulder.

"Sasuke-kun…what did you do to my shoulder? I swear I felt something happen when you bit me," Sakura asked once she could finally speak again.

"I completed the ritual," he explained, tracing his fingertips along her spine. "You bear my mark now, meaning you are my mate. We are also bound to each other now."

Sakura smiled, pressing a kiss to his jaw. "I love you, Sasuke-kun."

His dark eyes softened at her, tracing over her features reverently. "You are everything to me," he responded.

It wasn't exactly what most women would have expected to hear, but Sakura knew Sasuke more than anyone did. His answer was everything she wanted to hear and more.

Feeling a wave of exhaustion take over her, Sakura yawned widely and snuggled in closer to her mate. He breathed out a noise that could _almost _be considered a laugh, though she was sure he would deny it, and pulled his silk blankets over them.

She leaned up, pressing one last kiss to his lips and was about to rest her head against him once more but a certain new mark on his body caught her eyes.

"Sasuke-kun, there's something on your curse mark…"

Instantly Sasuke's hand came up to clutch at the mark, feeling a small encircling around it now. His eyes widened and he turned to her, "It's a seal. It must have gotten there when I bit you."

"So…you marked me, and now I've marked you," Sakura said with a pleased grin. "That's good, because I'll need to send a message to all those lonely, single Goddess _skanks_ out there."

Sasuke wrapped his arms around her in a bear hug, quieting her as he pressed his lips to her temple. Sakura reached a hand up to grasp his and they rested against his heart as she dozed off.

"Sakura," he whispered to her sleeping form. "Thank you."

O-0-O

The next morning Sakura discovered the downside to her and Sasuke's markings. The supernatural equivalent to a hickey, Naruto, Hinata and Kakashi all knew instantly what had transpired between the couple last night.

While Hinata blushed slightly and hugged Sakura in congratulation, Naruto couldn't stop jumping around Sasuke and teasing him. Apparently the half-breed took it as his sworn duty to alert every living being of the fact that Sasuke had finally taken a mate.

"So what happens now?" Kakashi asked the four over breakfast.

Sakura looked over to her mate, grabbing his hand, "We should go somewhere. You haven't left this castle in centuries; it's time for a little vacation."

"My clan has an island home that we use for summer trips," Hinata suggested. "Perhaps we could stay there for a while."

"Yeah that'll be perfect!" Naruto agreed, holding his glass of juice up and sloshing it all over the table. "Sasuke-bastard and Sakura-chan can stay in one room and Hinata-chan and I will take the other!"

Flushing a deep crimson, he turned to the Hyuuga Goddess and shyly added, "If you want to, that is."

"Naruto, are you proposing to Hinata-chan?" Sakura said with a teasing smile, glancing knowingly at Sasuke.

"Well, I just…I mean I—" Everyone laughed as his eyes turned to the size of saucers, but Hinata leaned over and grabbed his hand.

"I would love to, Naruto-kun."

Sasuke tugged on Sakura's hand, leading her into the gardens to give the other two some privacy. He wrapped an arm around his mate's waist, smirking down at her when she leaned into his chest.

"You're happy then?"

"Oh, extremely," Sakura assured with a grin. "And I think it'll be really great for us to get away for a while, just take some time to relax and have fun and hang out."

Sasuke scoffed, "I don't think I've ever just 'had fun and hung out'."

"Well you'd better start getting used to it, mister!" she teased, pinching his pectoral muscle before sprinting away from him.

Sasuke took chase, smirking as he closed in on his beautiful mate and wrapped his arms around her before they could tumble into the grass. His arms came to rest at her waist and she drew hers around his neck, her fingers playing with the hair at the nape of his neck.

"So I was thinking, and how does happily ever after sound to you?" Sakura said in a joking voice, but her eyes were serious.

He tightened his grip on her, knowing he held his entire world in his arms. "Hn. Happily ever after sounds…perfect." At her grin, he lowered his head to hers. Their mouths met only briefly before they were interrupted once again.

"Oi! Teme, Sakura-chan! Let's get going!"

Sakura giggled, tugging Sasuke behind her as they made their way back to their friends.

And, in case you were wondering, they _did_ live happily ever after.

O-0-O

_**Tale as old as time  
**__**Song as old as rhyme  
**__**Beauty and the Beast**_

* * *

**A/N: **Oh my god I can't believe I finally finished! Thank you so much to everyone who stuck with me during my long, ridiculous hiatus and thank you also to all my reviewers. You've made writing this story so much more enjoyable.

I hope you've enjoyed reading my story as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Until next time!


End file.
